Gay, lesbian couples likelier to influence each other's health habits

Researchers Corinne Reczek a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of sociology and Debra Umberson professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin followed 20 longterm heterosexual marriages as well as 15 longterm gay and 15 longterm lesbian partnerships in the United States Their findings reflected previous research that in heterosexual marriages women put more effort into encouraging good health habits for their spouses Sociologists have theorized that from early childhood the socialization of women into caretaker roles has led to health benefits for husbands Reczek said that this newest study is among the first of its kind to explore how gay and lesbian couples affect each otherrsquos health habits The researchers examined what they called ldquohealth workrdquo ndash defined as any activity or dialogue concerned with enhancing anotherrsquos health The researchers conducted 100 indepth interviews with couples involved in 50 longterm relationships ndash couples who were involved for at least eight years or longer The study found that at least one partner in over threequarters of the heterosexual gay and lesbian couples did some form of health work as a result of two reasons the other partner had bad health habits or one partner was considered the ldquohealth expertrdquo Nearly half of the respondents ndash heterosexual gay or lesbian ndash blamed a partnerrsquos unhealthy habits for the other partnerrsquos attempts at intervention Among heterosexual couples men were typically identified as needing the prodding toward healthier lifestyles For couples identifying a ldquohealth expertrdquo the researchers said that straight women were almost exclusively identified while gay and lesbian couples identified one partner as the health expert regardless of gender For better or for worse couples mutually reinforcing health behaviors were more prominent in gay 80 percent and lesbian 86 percent couples versus straight couples 10 percent ldquoThe social and institutional conditions within which gay and lesbian couples live ndash including a heteronormative and homophobic culture at large and a noninstitutionalized nonheterosexual union ndash structure a unique relational context for cooperative more egalitarian health work processes to emergerdquo the authors wrote The authors stated that the findings suggest that gendered relational context of an intimate partnership shapes the dynamics and explanations for health behavior work The research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute on Aging as well as the Mentoring Program of The Center for Population Research in LGBT Health under the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development In the survey sample 80 percent of the straight respondents were white 15 percent were AfricanAmerican one AsianAmerican and one Latina Gay and lesbian respondents included 63 percent whites 27 percent who identified as Hispanics Latinos or Latinas one AfricanAmerican one NativeAmericanHispanic and one South American The average age for the straight couples was 45 years 49 years for gay respondents and 43 years for lesbian respondents The average relationship duration for straight couples was 17 years 21 years for gay couples and 14 years for lesbian couples Household income averaged 60000 The study is published in the journal lsquoSocial Science and Medicinersquou00a0