ArticleHealth psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2024
Better sleep, lower blood pressure, and less stress following sex: Findings from a large-scale ecological momentary assessment study.
Article in Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Whose health matters? Longitudinal analyses of older romantic couples' health, physical capabilities, and sexual experiences.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- The interplay between sexual activity, athletic performance, and recovery in athletes: a narrative review.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Bidirectional associations between daily subjective stress and sexual desire, arousal, and activity in healthy men and women.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Article
- Better sleep, lower blood pressure, and less stress following sex: Findings from a large-scale ecological momentary assessment study.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePrevious cross-sectional studies have shown that more (vs. less) sexually active individuals tend to be mentally and physically healthier, but little is known about the proximal mechanisms underlying such associations.
methodWe analyzed two experience sampling data sets (
resultsConsistent with previous findings, our results showed significant between-person associations, suggesting more positive daily health outcomes for more sexually active individuals. Further, we found significant within-person associations suggesting that when people reported having (vs. not having) sex the previous night, they experienced better sleep quality, fewer sleep disturbances and shorter wake after sleep onset, lower blood pressure, less stress, more positive affect, and better coping in the morning. None of these associations were moderated by gender or relationship status.
conclusionsOur findings provide novel evidence suggesting short-term psychological and physiological benefits of sex, which may accrue to create better health over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.