Lemondrop

Happily married? Then you're probably sleeping better than everyone else. A new study found that happily married women sleep better than their unhappily married counterparts.

Researchers woke up to that news after asking nearly 2,000 married women to rate the harmony of their union on a scale of 1 to 7 and then report whether they had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. The ones who ranked their marriages highest slept better, even when other factors that might disturb sleep, such as a poor social network or depression, were taken into account.

One thing the study failed to consider, though, was a partner's sleeping habits, which can wreck our rest even if we love our mate. Anyone who has ever tried to spoon with a guy snoring loudly in her ear can attest to that.

Snoring Beauty
"When he twists and turns, it disturbs me," says Jill from California of her husband. "And often if he gets up to go to the bathroom during the night, it wakes me up. When I sleep alone, I usually sleep soundly."

Kama from New York says she sleeps much better solo.

"I am single, and I can sleep 10 to 12 hours. When I stay with a guy, his snoring or bumping or whatever will always wake me up."

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Does Sleep Make the Marriage?
Lisa Shives, M.D., medical director of Northshore Sleep Medicine in Evanston/Skokie, Ill., says researchers might have it all backward: Maybe these women think they're happy in their marriage because they sleep well, not vice versa.

"If you are a 'glass half full' kind of person, then you are going to report that your marriage is happier and that your sleep is good," she said.

She might be right: a Princeton University study reported that poor sleep was one of two factors that most upset daily moods, and women who tossed and turned reported little enjoyment even when doing pleasurable tasks like watching TV or shopping. If they can't even enjoy an episode of "Grey's Anatomy," they're definitely not looking at the bright spots in their marriages.

Shives says the study also "perpetuates the idea that it is always best to sleep in the same bed as your spouse. There are many women who sleep better alone, either because of their own insomnia problems or because the spouse is so disruptive."

We don't need to sleep on that theory: A 2007 study found women sleep less soundly when they share a bed. And the National Sleep Foundation says a quarter of American couples sleep apart. Read these stories about sleeping problems in women and how to get better rest.

Tell us: Do you sleep better with or without your partner?