Many concepts from psychology stick out in my mind; however, the most significant one is relationships. Relationships are an important part of everyone's life. From Professor Jeff Simpson, we learned about attachment theory and that is not only plays a role in children, but also in adults.
Dr. Angela Hicks performed a study involving 39 participants to investigate the "link between romantic relationships and long term emotional and physical well-being." First, the individuals' attachment styles were assessed based on anxiousness and avoidance. Hicks documented the affects of conflict on sleep disturbance and mood. She conflict was assessed in bedtime journals and the mood was assessed in the morning.
It was found that the most anxious individuals lost the most amount of sleep. On the other hand, the individuals who exhibited the most emotional avoidance had the least sleep loss. Also, individuals who had trouble with emotional attachment had worse moods than those who were comfortable with attachment.
Dr. Hicks noted that it was already known that happy marriages are correlated with better health. Her research shows "that individuals who are in insecure relationships are more vulnerable to longer-term health risks from conflict than are others."
For more information about her study, here are two websites that describe it: ScienceDaily and PsychCentral.
This is a very interesting study! I believe many of us can relate to this study. I think most people (myself included), when angry, have trouble falling asleep. Why do you think this is so? Is it because we are so aroused that cannot fall asleep? Or because we keep thinking about the conflict?