The lab is pleased to announce the publication of a new article by Silke Jacmin-Park, a doctoral student in psychology (R/I), and her collaborators, examining how sexual and gender diverse(SGD)couples and cisgender heterosexual couples recover following a stressful episode.
This study, conducted with 118 couples, including 51 sexual and gender diverse (SGD) couples, examined how partner support behaviors influence recovery following a task known to induce stress. Researchers observed supportive behaviors between partners and measured cortisol levels (the stress hormone) in both partners.
The results show that emotion-focused support behaviors, such as listening attentively to one’s partner or validating their emotions, were associated with better recovery following a stressful episode compared to behaviors focused on problem-solving. The findings also suggest that sexual and gender diverse (SGD) couples may experience more effective recovery following a stressful episode, drawing more on emotional closeness and mutual support to navigate stressful situations together compared to cisgender heterosexual couples.
These findings highlight the importance of partner support, as well as the specific behaviors that may promote more effective recovery following a stressful episode.
Congratulations to Silke and her collaborators on this publication! To learn more, the full article is available here:
https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001485
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