Second, understanding how gay couples function to influence health is also important because human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has had a disproportionate effect on the gay community. This suggests that involving partners in interventions to change health behaviors may be a high-impact leverage point. The lack of macro-support, coupled with lower network support, makes understanding how relationship functioning and influence get enacted in gay couples paramount, because the partner may be the most influential person in each other's life. Moreover, gay couples also report less social support from family and friends, suggesting that their socio-emotional needs are more likely to be met within the relationship. First, gay couples lack the macrolevel institutional supports which may make them more dependent on their relationship, and partners are thus more likely to be an important source of interpersonal influence. Understanding how gay couples function to promote and influence health is important for two reasons.
This is especially true for gay couple relationships, which have not been subject to much study. The interpersonal mechanisms that explain the health advantage of close relationships remain poorly understood. Many fields have demonstrated that involvement in close relationships confers a health advantage.
