The impact of social support on gay male couples.

The impact of social support on the relationships of gay male couples is examined. Social support for couples is defined as the availability of people outside the couple perceived as willing to offer resources in a manner that provides assistance and validates the couple's relationship. The sample consisted of 156 cohabiting gay male couples. It was found that social support for the couple is positively correlated with relationship quality. There are promising but not definitive indications that social support for the couple better predicts relationship quality than does social support for the individual. The categories of social support providers having a unique impact on relationship quality were family members and friends.