Abstract Introduction General loneliness refers to the unpleasant experience that arises when one’s social network feels insufficient. Individuals in lower-quality marriages marked by conflict, withdrawal, or poor communication experience higher loneliness. Nocturnal Loneliness involves feeling lonely at night or during sleep difficulties. Whether nocturnal loneliness is distinctly related to marital quality compared to general loneliness has not yet been established. We hypothesized that nocturnal loneliness would be uniquely associated with lower marital quality relative to general loneliness. Methods Participants (N = 442) were recruited through Prolific, an online research platform (49% female; M age = 45.6; 38% married). They completed an online survey including demographic questions, the Norton Quality of Marriage Index (QMI), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (LS), and the Nocturnal Loneliness Scale (NLS). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) examined the measurement properties of the LS and NLS. Latent profile analysis was conducted using factor scores from the CFA and demographic variables (age, race, education, gender). Results A four-class model provided the best fit. CFA supported a two-factor structure for the NLS: loneliness at night (NLS1) and loneliness associated with sleep-disorder experiences (NLS2). A two-factor structure also emerged for the LS: intimate emotional loneliness (LS1) and social loneliness/isolation (LS2). Latent profile analysis further supported the four-class solution, indicated by the lowest BIC (1700), strong entropy (.85), and an adequately sized smallest class (16.8%). Class 1 showed low levels of NLS1 and LS1 (−0.67 and −0.97, respectively). Class 2 showed moderately low NLS1 and QMI scores (−0.59 and −0.42, respectively). Class 3 reflected moderate, mixed loneliness, with elevations on NLS2 and LS2 (0.25 and 0.23, respectively). Class 4 exhibited high scores across both NLS and LS dimensions (0.69 and 0.88, respectively). Conclusion Findings supported the hypothesis that nocturnal and general loneliness are distinct, multidimensional constructs, each uniquely associated with marital quality. The identification of four loneliness profiles underscores the importance of developing targeted interventions that address specific patterns of loneliness. Such tailored approaches have the potential to strengthen both marital relationships and sleep health among married couples. Support (if any)
Hunter et al. (Fri,) studied this question.