Getting over stress faster and with more support

The first study (in Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine) followed 101 couples (42 SGD) and examined cortisol responses in both stressed and supporting partners. Individuals assigned male at birth showed higher cortisol reactivity following stress exposure. Among supporting partners, those assigned female at birth showed higher cortisol during recovery, suggesting that providing support is itself physiologically activating.

Most importantly, SGD couples showed significantly lower cortisol levels during recovery compared with cisgender heterosexual couples, an effect that remained after adjusting for relationship satisfaction and duration. This pattern was primarily driven by supporting partners in SGD couples, whose cortisol levels remained lower during recovery.

"These results suggest that the ways SGD couples support each other are not only psychologically meaningful, but biologically measurable," said Silke Jacmin-Park, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology and the study's lead author. "Support within these relationships appears to shape how efficiently the body recovers from stress.”

Added Robert-Paul Juster, an UdeM associate professor of psychiatry and addiction and the study's senior author: “Much of the scientific literature to date has focused on the health risks of minority stress, and those risks are well-known. What our work shows is that SGD couples may also develop distinctive strengths in co-regulation and mutual support that have direct physiological consequences.”

The second study (in Psychoneuroendocrinology) examined a larger final sample of 118 couples (51 SGD) and identified the behavioural mechanisms underlying these physiological differences using video recordings of discussions their partners had before and after they were exposed to stress.

Using trained observers and a standardized behavioural system, researchers coded real-time interactions across seven positive support dimensions: emotional expression, attentiveness, validation, problem description, suggestions for change, behavioural engagement, and interactional synchrony, a global measure of dyadic (two-fold) coordination.

Collectively among all couples, supportive behaviours such as attentiveness and engagement predicted faster cortisol recovery in the stressed partner. Interestingly, SGD partners showed greater engagement and interactional synchrony during stress discussions, reflecting greater attunement.

What type the couple was further shaped these associations. In SGD couples, emotional expression by the stressed partner was linked to faster recovery. In cisgender heterosexual couples, reduced self-expression paired with high attentiveness was associated with slower recovery.

"These findings are important because they identify concrete, modifiable behaviours linked to physiological recovery," said Sophie Bergeron, the second study's senior author. “Active engagement, validation and emotional expression appear to support faster stress regulation at the biological level.”

Added her co-author Beáta Bőthe, an UdeM assistant professor of psychology: “By combining observational data with hormonal measures and dyadic modelling, we are able to move beyond subjective experiences and capture how couples actually behave under stress, and how this synergy maps onto biology.”

The authors suggest that experiences of stigma and discrimination may foster stronger reliance on close relationships and more intentional support systems, including “chosen family” dynamics. Within romantic partnerships, this may translate into greater emotional attunement, communication and mutual care.

Shared experiences of marginalization may also enhance empathy and coordination during stress, contributing to both behavioural synchrony and more efficient physiological recovery, the co-authors believe.

Importantly, all couples in the studies showed strong cortisol increases under stress. The difference from cisgender heterosexual couples lies in how efficiently and collaboratively they recovered.

Together, these studies advance understanding of stress as a dyadic biological process, demonstrating that partner interactions shape physiological recovery in measurable ways, the co-authors say.

They also identify specific, modifiable behaviours: emotional expression, validation, attentiveness and engagement all appear to support faster stress recovery, they note. For SGD couples in particular, the findings suggest that encouraging open emotional expression during stress may be especially beneficial for physiological regulation.

This work was carried out by members from the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Intimate Relationship Problems & Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS). Future research by this team will expand sample diversity and further investigate mechanisms such as intimacy, intersectionality and multiple marginalization processes.