Support for a spouse with psychological distress can be expressed in many different ways. Previous research indicates that support expression is shaped by gender, but we do not know much about how support within marriage is provided in response to a spouse’s distress outside of a different-sex couple context. In this study, we analyze dyadic data from 378 midlife married couples (35–65 years; N = 756 individuals) within the U.S. to examine how men and women in same- and different-sex relationships provide support when they perceive that their spouse is experiencing distress. We find women in different-sex couples are less likely to report taking care of their distressed spouse’s tasks or giving their distressed spouse more personal time and space compared to women in same-sex couples and men. We also find that men in different-sex couples are less likely to report encouraging their spouse to talk compared to men in same-sex couples and women. Being personally stressed by a spouse’s distress is positively associated with providing support to that spouse, whereas feeling that a spouse’s distress is stressful for the marriage is negatively associated with providing support. This study advances understanding of gendered provisions of support in response to psychological distress in marriage, moving beyond a framing of women as fundamentally more supportive than men to a consideration of how these dynamics may be different or similar in same- and different-sex marital contexts.

对有心理困扰的配偶的支持可以通过许多不同的方式来表达。先前的研究表明，支持的表达受性别影响，但我们对婚姻内的支持如何在异性伴侣环境之外应对配偶的痛苦知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们分析了 378 对中年已婚夫妇（35-65 岁；N= 756 个人）在美国，研究同性和异性关系中的男性和女性在察觉到他们的配偶正在经历痛苦时如何提供支持。我们发现，与同性伴侣和男性中的女性相比，异性伴侣中的女性不太可能报告照顾其陷入困境的配偶的任务或给予其陷入困境的配偶更多的个人时间和空间。我们还发现，与同性伴侣和女性中的男性相比，异性伴侣中的男性不太可能鼓励他们的配偶说话。因配偶的痛苦而感到压力与向该配偶提供支持呈正相关，而感到配偶的痛苦对婚姻造成压力与提供支持呈负相关。