Couples strive to maintain their relationships in the everyday context of
their neighborhoods. Living under adverse neighborhood conditions can have
damaging effects on relationship quality and well-being (Cutrona et al.,
2003; Simons et al., 2002). Research suggests that enduring sustained
stress may also exhaust the coping resources needed to provide support to
one’s partner (Lyons et al., 1998). Analyzing longitudinal data from 177
African American couples, we examined whether adverse neighborhood social
conditions affected support quality in relationships. Multilevel analyses
showed that neighborhood social disorder predicted slight decreases in
support recipients’ perceptions of their partners’ support quality, while
neighborhood-level racial discrimination unexpectedly predicted increases
in recipients’ perceived partner support, adjusting for the negative
effects of support providers’ direct stress experiences. Our results
suggest that whether or not support providers endure stress directly, the
everyday contextual conditions of their neighborhoods can actively shape
couples’ support dynamics over time.