Sexual activity before bed improves objective sleep quality, study finds

Engaging in sexual activity—whether solo or with a partner—can lead to better sleep, according to a new pilot study published in the journal Sleep Health. The research found that both partnered sex and solo masturbation reduced the amount of time people spent awake during the night and improved overall sleep efficiency. These effects were not reflected in subjective reports of sleep quality, but objective sleep monitoring showed consistent improvements following sexual activity compared to nights without it.

While many people believe that orgasm has a relaxing effect and promotes sleep, most existing evidence has relied on subjective reports. Only one study—conducted more than three decades ago—had attempted to objectively measure sleep following sexual activity, and it had significant design limitations. The present research aimed to address this gap by using a portable brain-monitoring device to measure sleep stages and sleep quality in a real-world setting.

“I have been investigating sleep behaviors in the adult population for several years, while this has predominantly focused on improving the sleep behaviors of elite athletes, I am always asked various questions about sleep,” said study author Michele Lastella, a senior lecturer at CQUniversity Australia.

“A frequent question asked ‘how come my partner falls asleep straight away after sex and I can’t’ and I thought if people are frequently asking me questions about this, then this must be indicative that there is a real lack of research evidence around it. One of the main reasons it hadn’t previously been explored in depth was related to the taboo associated with people being afraid to talk about sex. When people would ask question, a lot of the time it was associated with the males falling asleep and the women weren’t, and I thought this may be something related to the orgasm.”

The new study is part of a broader research effort investigating the relationship between sex and sleep. Earlier work Lastella and his colleagues surveyed 778 people and found that both men and women perceived that sex with orgasm helped them fall asleep faster and sleep better. These findings prompted the current study, which provides a more detailed and objective look at how sexual activity influences sleep physiology.

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The researchers recruited seven heterosexual couples, comprising 14 participants in total, all of whom were healthy, sexually active, and living together in South Australia. Participants were screened to ensure they had no sleep disorders, were not pregnant, and did not have children, which could affect sleep routines. All participants reported engaging in sexual activity at least twice a week. The final sample consisted of 7 males and 7 females, each around 26 years old.

Participants were monitored over 11 consecutive nights using a repeated-measures, crossover design. Each couple completed nights in three different conditions: no sexual activity, solo masturbation (with orgasm), and partnered sex (with orgasm). To measure sleep objectively, participants wore a wireless polysomnographic device (DREEM3 headband), which recorded brain activity, movement, and breathing during the night. Participants also completed self-report diaries each morning, detailing their sexual activity, sleep quality, mood, and readiness for the upcoming day.

On nights when participants engaged in sexual activity, they went to bed later than on nights with no sex. However, they also spent significantly less time awake after falling asleep and had higher sleep efficiency, meaning they spent a greater proportion of their time in bed actually sleeping. Sleep efficiency was 93.2% following solo masturbation and 93.4% after partnered sex, compared to 91.5% on nights with no sexual activity. Participants spent about 7 minutes less awake during the night following sexual activity.

Interestingly, the improvements in sleep were evident only in the objective data. Participants did not report significant differences in how well they thought they had slept across the three conditions.

“We observed that engaging in sexual activity regardless of whether it was solo masturbation or partnered sexual activity, improved objective sleep quality by reducing the amount of time spent awake throughout the night and improved overall sleep efficiency,” Lastella told PsyPost. “There were no differences in sleep duration, sleep latency and subjective sleep measures.”

However, they did report feeling more motivated and ready for the day following partnered sex. On average, participants rated their motivation and readiness 8–11 points higher (on a 100-point scale) after a night of partnered sex compared to nights without sex.

Another aspect the study examined was how sexual activity might influence the synchronization of sleep stages between partners, known as sleep stage concordance. Previous studies have shown that couples who share a bed tend to enter REM sleep at similar times, suggesting that cosleeping can influence sleep patterns. This study found that REM sleep stage concordance was significantly longer when couples slept together—regardless of whether they had engaged in sex—compared to when they slept alone. This suggests that the act of cosleeping itself may promote synchronized REM sleep, potentially due to shared environmental and physiological cues.

When looking at specific sleep stages, the researchers found that participants spent more time in the lightest stage of sleep (N1) on nights without sexual activity. While the difference—about 2 minutes—was statistically significant, it is unlikely to have clinical significance. Other stages of sleep, including deep sleep (N3) and REM sleep, did not show significant differences across the three conditions, although there were trends suggesting some improvements following sexual activity.

These findings are in line with previous research. For example, a 2023 study published in the Journal of Sleep Research used a 14-day diary method and found that partnered sex with orgasm was associated with shorter time to fall asleep and better self-reported sleep quality. However, that study did not include objective sleep measures and found inconsistent results for solo masturbation. The current study supports the idea that orgasm, regardless of whether it occurs alone or with a partner, may have sleep-promoting effects—but these effects are more clearly captured through objective measurement.

The study authors suggest that hormonal changes following orgasm could explain the observed benefits to sleep. Orgasm is known to increase the release of oxytocin and prolactin while reducing cortisol levels. Oxytocin, often called the “bonding hormone,” has been linked to lower stress and better sleep, while prolactin is associated with sexual satisfaction and relaxation. These hormonal shifts may reduce arousal and promote a smoother transition into restful sleep.

However, the study had several limitations. The sample was small, consisting of only 14 participants, all of whom were healthy heterosexual couples. This limits the ability to generalize the findings to broader populations, such as older adults, people with sleep disorders, or those in non-heterosexual relationships. The participants also had to activate their sleep monitoring devices after sexual activity, which may have interfered with the natural transition into sleep and reduced the chance of capturing very short sleep onset latencies.

“One of the main challenges is setting up the device to record following sexual activity, as in an ideal real world scenario individuals would be able to simply attempt to sleep following sexual activity without having to activate/record on a device,” Lastella noted.

Another limitation was the potential for social desirability bias in self-reported measures. While the objective data were less susceptible to this, participants might have felt inclined to rate their sleep or sexual experiences more positively. The researchers note that future studies should aim to include a more diverse and larger sample and should explore whether sexual activity could be used as a behavioral intervention for people with poor sleep.

“We are actively seeking funding to support our third part of the investigation recruiting a larger sample with participants with poor sleep quality or behaviours and examine if sexual activity can help subsequent sleep behavior,” Lastella said. “This type of research is important as it provide us with a non-pharmaceutical approach toward improving not only sleep behavior but health and wellbeing as a collective. Please reach out if this research interests you, and there are funding opportunities that might support this type of research.”

The study, “Sleep on it: A pilot study exploring the impact of sexual activity on sleep outcomes in cohabiting couples,” was authored by Michele Lastella, Dean J. Miller, Ashley Montero, Madeline Sprajcer, Sally A. Ferguson, Matthew Browne, and Grace E. Vincent.