The social networks surrounding intimate couples provide them with bonding and bridging social capital and have been theorized to be associated with their well-being and relationship quality. These networks are multidimensional, featuring compositional (e.g., the proportion of family members vs. friends) and structural characteristics (e.g., density, degree of overlap between spouses’ networks). Most previous studies of couple networks are based on partners’ global ratings of their network characteristics or network data collected from one member of the dyad. This study presents the analysis of “duocentric networks" or the combined personal networks of both members of a couple, collected from 207 mixed-sex newlywed couples living in low-income neighborhoods of Harris County, TX. We conducted a pattern-centric analysis of compositional and structural features to identify distinct types of couple networks. We identified five qualitatively distinct network types (wife family-focused, husband family-focused, shared friends, wife friend-focused, and extremely disconnected). Couples’ network types were associated with the quality of the relationships between couples and their network contacts (e.g., emotional support) but not with the quality of the couples’ relationship with each other. We argue that duocentric networks provide appropriate data for measuring bonding and bridging capital in couple networks.

亲密伴侣周围的社交网络为他们提供了纽带和桥梁性的社会资本，并且理论上与他们的幸福感和关系质量有关。这些网络是多维的，具有成分（例如，家庭成员与朋友的比例）和结构特征（例如，配偶网络之间的密度、重叠程度）。先前大多数关于夫妻网络的研究都是基于伴侣对其网络特征的全球评级或从二人中的一名成员收集的网络数据。本研究对“双中心网络”或一对夫妇双方成员的综合个人网络进行了分析，收集自德克萨斯州哈里斯县低收入社区的 207 对混性别新婚夫妇。我们进行了以模式为中心的分析组成和结构特征来识别不同类型的夫妻网络。我们确定了五种性质不同的网络类型（以妻子家庭为中心、以丈夫家庭为中心、共同朋友、以妻子朋友为中心和极度脱节）。夫妻网络类型与我们认为，双中心网络为衡量夫妻网络中的联系和桥接资本提供了适当的数据。