伴侣双方怎样和谐共眠？

Couples may get health benefits simply from sleeping in the same bed, a burgeoning field of study is showing. In fact, some scientists believe that sleeping with a partner may be a major reason why people with close relationships tend to be in better health and live longer.

一个正在蓬勃发展的科研领域的研究成果显示，伴侣双方只要能同睡一张床就有望增进健康。事实上，一些科学家认为，与伴侣同床共眠可能是拥有亲密感情的人往往更健康、更长寿的一项主要原因。

The new research runs counter to studies that show women don't sleep as well with a partner and both men and women move around more when sleeping together. Other bed battles that interrupt couples' sleep include sheet-stealing and differing bedtimes and room-temperature preferences.

以往一些研究显示，女性与伴侣同眠时睡眠质量要差一些，而且在一起睡觉的时候，无论男性还是女性都更容易翻身，而新的研究结论则与此相反。其他影响伴侣睡眠的床上摩擦包括抢被子、就寝时间不同以及对室内温度的偏好各异。

Sleep experts suggest there are ways to address these couple-sleep problems -- without resorting to separate bedrooms.

睡眠专家建议，有一些方法可以解决伴侣之间这些睡眠问题──而不必分床睡。

'Sleep is a critically important health behavior that we know is associated with heart disease and psychiatric well-being,' says Wendy M. Troxel, an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. 'It happens to be this health behavior that we do in couples,' she says. In one of Dr. Troxel's studies, published in 2010, women in long-term stable relationships fell asleep more quickly and woke up less during the night than single women or women who lost or gained a partner during the six to eight years of the study.

匹兹堡大学(University of Pittsburgh)精神病学和心理学副教授特罗克塞尔(Wendy M. Troxel)称，“睡眠是至关重要的健康行为，我们已经知道睡眠与心脏疾病和精神健康有关系。她说，“这种健康行为是在伴侣之间进行的。特罗克塞尔博士2010年发表的一项研究论文显示，与单身女性以及在此项研究持续的六到八年中失去或获得一名伴侣的女性相比，与伴侣建立长期稳定关系的女性能更快入眠，夜间醒来的次数也更少。

While the science is in the early stages, one hypothesis suggests that by promoting feelings of safety and security, shared sleep in healthy relationships may lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Sharing a bed may also reduce cytokines, involved in inflammation, and boost oxytocin, the so-called love hormone that is known to ease anxiety and is produced in the same part of the brain responsible for the sleep-wake cycle. So even though sharing a bed may make people move more, 'the psychological benefits we get having closeness at night trump the objective costs of sleeping with a partner,' Dr. Troxel says.

尽管该学科还处于初期阶段，但一项假说暗示，关系健康的伴侣同床共眠有可能提升了安全感从而降低了皮质醇（一种与压力相关的荷尔蒙）水平。同床共眠还有可能减少细胞因子（与炎症相关）并提升催产素（所谓“爱的荷尔蒙，可以缓解焦虑，产生催产素的区域与大脑中负责睡眠─觉醒周期的区域相同）水平。因此特罗克塞尔博士称，虽然同睡一张床可能会让人翻身更多，但“夜晚亲密同眠在心理方面的收益要大于与伴侣同眠客观上需付出的成本。

Peter B. Ellis needs six hours of sleep and likes to go to bed at midnight. His wife, Nanci, needs eight. Her ideal bedtime is 10 p.m. For years, Ms. Ellis, a 42-year-old television and movie writer now staying home with the couple's 2-year-old son, tried to adopt her husband's schedule. 'I became sleep deprived and really grumpy,' she says. 'We were fighting more and we were distant from each other,' says Mr. Ellis, a 49-year-old film editor.

49岁的编辑埃利斯(Peter B. Ellis)每天需要睡六个小时，他喜欢在午夜上床睡觉。他的妻子南奇(Nanci)则需要八小时睡眠。她的理想就寝时间是晚上10点。42岁的南奇是一位电视和电影编剧，现在在家里照顾两岁的儿子。多年来，她一直努力采用与她丈夫相同的作息时间。她说，“结果我睡眠不足，脾气变得很坏。埃利斯说，“我们吵架更多了，彼此之间产生了距离。

Mr. Ellis says he couldn't understand how anyone could need more sleep than he did. 'I thought, 'She's just lazy,' ' he says. Mr. Ellis says he began to understand the legitimacy of their different sleep needs after he was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2010, had surgery to treat it and stopped getting tired in the afternoon. Then, in 2010, the couple's son was born and they took a hard look at their sleep arrangements.

埃利斯说，他起初无法理解怎么会有人比他需要更长的睡眠时间。他说，“我以为，‘她就是犯懒’。埃利斯说，2010年他被诊断出患有睡眠呼吸暂停症，并接受了手术治疗，下午不再犯困了，这之后他才开始理解，他和妻子有不同的睡眠需求是合情合理的。随后，在2010年，夫妇俩的儿子出世了，他们认真审视了一下睡眠安排。

Now, some nights, the Los Angeles-based couple goes to bed at midnight. Other nights, they go to bed at 10 p.m. On nights when they have different bedtimes, Ms. Ellis may take an Ambien sleeping pill, which keeps her from waking up when Mr. Ellis comes to bed later. In the morning, Mr. Ellis usually gets up with their three children and Ms. Ellis sleeps in.

现在，这对居住在洛杉矶的夫妇有时候会在午夜就寝，有时候则晚上10点睡觉。如果他们要在不同时间就寝的话，南奇可能会服用一片Ambien安眠药，这样埃利斯晚些时候上床时她就不会被吵醒了。早晨，埃利斯通常和三个孩子一同起床，南奇会多睡一会儿。

Mismatched body clocks -- a night owl with a so-called lark, for example -- can be tough on a relationship, says Jeffry H. Larson, a professor of marriage and family therapy at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He led a 1991 study of 150 couples. Ones with mismatched body clocks argued more (2.13 times per week compared with 1.6 times for matched couples) and spent less time together in shared activities (about 3 hours versus about 6 hours per week). They had slightly less sex, too.

犹他州普罗沃(Provo)杨百翰大学(Brigham Young University)的婚姻和家庭疗法教授拉森(Jeffry H. Larson)说，人体生物钟不吻合──比如一方是“猫头鹰型，一方是“百灵鸟型──会成为伴侣关系中的一大难题。他领导了1991年一项针对150对伴侣的研究。研究发现，生物钟不吻合的伴侣吵架次数更多（每周2.13次，而生物钟吻合的伴侣为1.6次），共同参与活动的时间更少（每周约三个小时，而生物钟吻合的伴侣为六小时左右）。他们的做爱时间也要略少一些。

Dr. Larson counsels couples with sleep differences to 'accept that your partner is different.' Body clocks are fairly fixed: Most people can't rejigger their natural bedtime and wake time by more than one hour, he says.

拉森博士为睡眠习惯有差异的伴侣进行咨询，让他们“接受伴侣之间差异的存在。人体的生物钟基本上是固定的：他说，对大多数人来说，自然就寝时间和起床时间的调整幅度不可能超过一个小时。

Sleep specialists suggest couples with mismatched schedules initially retire together for that 'special time in bed and negotiate that [the night person] gets to leave and come back later and then gets to sleep in,' says Colleen E. Carney, associate professor at Ryerson University in Toronto.

多伦多怀雅逊大学(Ryerson University)副教授卡尼(Colleen E. Carney)说，睡眠专家建议作息时间不吻合的伴侣首先共同放弃“特定的就寝时间，双方经过商量后让（习惯晚睡晚起的一方）在伴侣就寝后先下床，晚一些再回来就寝，并在早晨多睡一会。

There is a growing market for products that claim to help couples sleep better together. Tempur-Pedic International Inc. says the promise that its mattresses 'don't transfer motion' from one tossing and turning person to another is a key reason customers buy them, says Rick Anderson, president of Tempur-Pedic, North America. Its iconic advertising image is a glass of red wine perched on the edge of a bed. (On YouTube, homemade videos show customers jumping on their beds trying to topple wine and water glasses.) Tempur-Pedic's world-wide sales have grown to $1.4 billion in 2011 from $831 million in 2010. Select Comfort Corp.'s Sleep Number launched 'Create Your Perfect Comforter' in 2010. Couples can customize the amount of filling in each half of the comforter. The company has sold mattresses in which people can adjust each side's firmness since 1987.

号称能帮助伴侣更好地同床共眠的产品拥有越来越大的市常床垫生产商Tempur-Pedic International Inc.北美业务总裁安德森(Rick Anderson)说，顾客购买该公司生产的床垫的一个关键原因是，公司承诺，有了这种床垫，一个人在床上辗转反侧的“动作就不会传导给另一个人。该公司标志性的广告形象是摆放在床侧的一杯红葡萄酒。（在YouTube上有一些家庭自己拍摄的视频，视频中有消费者在床上跳跃，试图打翻葡萄酒杯或者水杯。）Tempur-Pedic 2011年全球销售额由2010年的8.31亿美元增长到14亿美元。床上用品生产商Select Comfort Corp.旗下品牌Sleep Number于2010年推出了一种名为“Create Your Perfect Comforter的被子，伴侣们可以自己决定在被子的两个半边各放入多少填充物。该公司从1987年开始销售能让用户自行调节每一侧硬度的床垫。

In a study in the journal Sleep and Biological Rhythms in 2007, women woke up more during the night when they shared a bed compared with when they were alone. (Nocturnal awakenings were measured by actigraphs, wrist devices that record movement.) Men slept as well when sharing a bed as when alone.

《睡眠与生物节律》(Sleep and Biological Rhythms)期刊2007年刊登了一篇研究论文，该研究发现，与伴侣同床共眠的女性夜间醒来的次数比一个人睡觉的女性多。（夜间醒来的次数是通过体动记录仪测量的，这种佩戴在手腕上的设备可记录身体动作。）而男性不管是一个人睡还是与伴侣共眠睡得都一样好。

When researchers simply asked participants about their sleep the night before, men said they slept better with their partners. Women said they slept better only on nights they had sex. But their actigraphs showed otherwise. In fact, their sleep was even more fragmented on nights they had sex.

当研究人员询问受试者前夜睡得怎么样的时候，男性会说他们与伴侣共眠时睡得比较好。而女性则说她们只有在做爱后的晚上才会睡得更好。但体动记录仪显示的却是另一番情况。事实上，女性做爱后夜间醒来次数会更多一些。

'Women enjoy male presence psychologically even though it costs them minutes or even hours of sleep,' says John Dittami, a behavioral endocrinologist and biological rhythms specialist at the University of Vienna and the lead author of the study. The issue is that women are more sensitive to their environments, he says. The study involved 10 young dating couples who shared a bed at least 10 nights and slept apart 10 nights for the study.

维也纳大学(University of Vienna)行为内分泌和生物节律专家、该研究论文的第一作者迪塔米(John Dittami)称，“虽然与伴侣同床就寝会让睡眠减少几分钟乃至几小时，但女性在心理上享受有男性陪伴的感觉。他说，问题是女性对环境更敏感。这项研究对象包括10对年轻恋人，在研究中，他们至少有10天夜间同床共眠，另有10天夜间分开睡。

Dr. Dittami and Gerhard Klosch, a sleep researcher at the Medical University of Vienna, co-authors of the book 'Sleeping Better Together,' recommend that couples sleep with separate blankets, especially if one person is a restless sleeper.

迪塔米博士和维也纳医科大学(Medical University of Vienna)的睡眠研究者、《同床就寝 怎样才能睡得更香》(Sleeping Better Together)一书共同作者克洛什(Gerhard Klosch)建议，伴侣睡觉时各盖各的毯子，尤其是在其中一人睡觉时经常翻身的情况下。

In a 2010 study of 29 couples, women who had fewer negative interactions with their partners during the day slept better that night. For men, it was reversed: Better sleep led to fewer negative interactions with their partners the next day.

2010年一项针对29对伴侣的研究发现，白天与伴侣消极互动较少的女性夜间睡眠质量较高。对男性来说则是倒过来的：夜间较好的睡眠会减少第二天与伴侣的消极互动。

Interestingly, on the days women said they had more positive interactions with their partners and fewer negative ones, the men slept better at night, too. 'Women tend to drive the emotional content of the relationships,' says Dr. Troxel, who co-wrote the study. 'Husbands may take up a stronger signal' from wives.

有意思的是，在女性说自己与伴侣积极互动较多、消极互动较少的日子里，男性夜间的睡眠质量也会比较好。该论文共同作者特罗克塞尔博士说，“女性往往主导伴侣关系中的情绪内容，丈夫可能会从妻子那里接收到更加积极的信号。

Clearing up a relationship issue can sometimes ease insomnia, says Christina S. McCrae, associate professor at the University of Florida and president of the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. She has had several patients whose sleep improved after underlying relationship problems were addressed with their spouses during sleep-therapy sessions.

佛罗里达大学(University of Florida)副教授、行为睡眠医学学会(Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine)会长麦克雷(Christina S. McCrae)说，解决感情问题有时候能够减轻失眠。她曾有几个病人在睡眠疗程中解决了与配偶的深层感情问题，之后他们的睡眠质量得到了改善。