Transgender relationships are undermined by social and economic marginalization, according to a recent study.

While looking at the impact of discrimination, poverty and stigma on the mental health and relationship quality of transgender women and their male romantic partners, researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island found that stigma not only takes a psychological toll on each person individually but also appears to undermine them as a couple.

"To our knowledge this is the first study that looks at both partners experiences of discrimination and how that influences their own individual reports of depression as well as their relationship quality," Kristi Gamarel, lead researcher of the study, said in a statement.

For the study, the research team analyzed responses to an extensive survey of 191 couples of transgender women and "cisgender" men, or men who continue to identify with their birth gender. Couples had to be together for at least three months to participate.

Each member of the couple used standardized scales to numerically rate their degrees of depression, the discrimination they face, the stigma they perceive about their relationship (e.g. how often they feel they had to hide their relationship from others) and the quality of their relationship (e.g. degree of agreement with their partner in major life decisions).

More than 40 percent in each group reported high scores of depressive distress as well.

The researchers analyzed the responses to look for statistical connections among them. All the measured stressors contributed to depression. Financial hardship also took a toll each person's view of the relationship.

"For both transgender women and their male partners one's own report of financial hardship was associated with their own perceptions of poorer relationship quality," they wrote.

But the analysis also showed that if one partner felt the sting of relationship stigma the other would likely feel that the relationship was more troubled:

"There was a partner effect for both partners such as their partners' higher reports of relationship stigma scores were associated with their own perceptions of lower relationship quality."

This means that with little money or social acceptance, couples also struggled to find refuge in their besieged relationships.

Based on the findings, researchers suggest that clinicians working with transgender women, or the men in relationships with them, should account for the health of the couple, not just the individual.

"Couples-based interventions and treatment approaches to help transgender women and their male partners cope with minority stressors are warranted to improve the health and well-being of both partners," they concluded.

The findings were recently published in the Journal of Family Psychology.