Dyadic Coping Inventory–Sexual Minority Stress: A Scale Validation With Lesbian, Gay, and Bi+ Men and Women in Same- and Different-Gender Couples

Lesbian, gay, and bi+ (LGB+) individuals often encounter stressors unique to living in a heterosexist society—ranging from discrimination and stigma to social exclusion and invisibility. These experiences, referred to as sexual minority stress, are associated with disparities in mental health and relationship quality.

For individuals in romantic partnerships, stress is often a shared experience. Partners may communicate about stress, offer emotional or practical support, or find ways to cope together. However, until now, there has been no validated measure to assess how LGB+ partners specifically manage stress related to their minority identity.

The Dyadic Coping Inventory–Sexual Minority Stress (DCI-SMS) adapts the widely used Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI) to focus specifically on stressors linked to sexual orientation. The tool was developed by Dr. Casey J. Totenhagen (University of Alabama), Dr. Ashley K. Randall (Arizona State University), Dr. Gabriel A. León (University of Southern California), and Mackenzie Carroll (University of Alabama). The project was supported by the Mental Research Institute.

To create the DCI-SMS, the research team revised existing DCI items to address sexual minority stress directly and included inclusive language. For example, participants were asked to reflect on how they and their partners communicate about discrimination, rejection, or bias related to sexual orientation. The resulting 27-item inventory assesses multiple dimensions of coping, including stress communication, supportive and negative dyadic coping behaviors, and shared (“common”) coping when both partners experience stress.

The DCI-SMS was tested with 373 LGB+ individuals in same- and different-gender relationships, recruited through the research platform Prolific. Participants reflected on how they and their partners respond to stress related to their sexual orientation—such as whether they discuss stress openly, offer empathy, or help one another find solutions.

Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the reliability and validity of the DCI-SMS as a measure of dyadic coping with sexual minority stress. The scale performed well across relationship types, although the common dyadic coping subscale was somewhat less consistent among participants in different-gender relationships.

These findings indicate that the DCI-SMS is a useful measure for understanding both individual and shared coping behaviors among LGB+ individuals in romantic relationships.

The DCI-SMS provides researchers and clinicians with a population-specific, validated instrument for assessing how couples communicate and support each other when facing stress linked to minority identity. The measure allows for more precise study of how dyadic coping contributes to relationship quality and well-being in diverse couple contexts.

The research team noted that while the DCI-SMS performed well across same- and different-gender couples, future studies should include more gender-diverse samples and examine how partners’ perceptions of coping align or differ over time.