Miami-Dade County (MDC) leads the United States in new HIV diagnoses, with Latino gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (hereafter referred to as Latino sexual minority men or LSMM) experiencing the majority of these new diagnoses [1,2]. Accordingly, our team has been conducting a mixed-methods study (the DÍMELO project-Determining Influences on MSM Engagement among Latinos) to understand barriers and facilitators to engaging LSMM in HIV-prevention (e.g., pre-exposure prophylaxis/ PrEP, post-exposure prophylaxis/PEP, and HIV testing) and behavioral health services (e.g., mental health and substance use treatment).The DÍMELO project began with qualitative interviews with community members and stakeholders which informed the development of a survey to quantitatively identify predictors of LSMM's use of HIV-prevention and behavioral health services. We plan to enroll 300 LSMM in the baseline survey, followed by 4-month and 8-month follow up assessments. Our goal is to identify modifiable factors that can be addressed to scale up and disseminate HIV-prevention and behavioral health services, thereby mitigating health disparities impacting LSMM.The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), a global pandemic that has required individuals, communities, organizations, and governments to engage in swift preventive actions to contain and mitigate its spread, emerged as a major public health concern in the US after we had collected approximately 40 baseline surveys for the DÍMELO project. Despite data collection largely taking place online (before COVID-19, participants had the option to complete the survey in our offices), there were questions about continuing data collection in the context of COVID-19. For instance, among our predictors of interest were participants' sexual behaviors and mental health/substance use. Yet, participants' sexual behaviors and mental health/substance may have shifted in response to COVID-19 preventive measures such as physical distancing, isolation, and quarantine, along with other changes such as loss of income, new caretaking roles, and stress about potential health impacts of COVID-19. Additionally, our goal was to understand how predictors identified from our qualitative work related to uptake of HIVprevention and behavioral health services. Yet, clinics across MDC have been announcing that in-person HIV-prevention or behavioral health services were to be discontinued or limited in many cases, creating new barriers to accessing this type of care. Beyond this, even for clinics that continued to be open for in-person services, it is unclear if engaging would currently be an optimal health behavior, given the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and local "stay at home" orders.At the same time that these discussions were unfolding regarding the DÍMELO project, the Center for Latino Health Research Opportunities (CLaRO), an NIMHDfunded center that co-funded the DÍMELO project began its own discussion about their funded projects continuing their Latino health disparities focused research during COVID-...

This report introduces the COVID‐19 Family Environment Scale (CHES), which aims to measure the impact of social distancing due to COVID‐19 on household conflict and cohesion. Existing measures do not capture household experiences relevant to the pandemic, in which families are largely confined to their homes while sharing a life‐threatening situation. Using best practice guidelines, we developed a pool of items and revised them with review by a panel of experts, and cognitive interviewing with community respondents. We administered the CHES by online survey to 3,965 adults. The CHES consists of 15 items for each of two subscales, household conflict (α = .847) and household cohesion (α = .887). Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors, corresponding to the intended conflict and cohesion items, which accounted for 29% of variance. Confirmatory factor analysis partially supported the 2‐factor model (RMSEA = .057; CFI = .729, TLI = .708, and SRMR = .098). The CHES also contains 25 optional items to describe respondent and household characteristics, and household‐level COVID‐19 exposure. The CHES, publicly available at https://elcentro.sonhs.miami.edu/research/measures-library/covid-19/index.html, provides a tool for measuring the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on important determinants of resilience in the face of major stressful events. Further work is needed to address the factor structure and establish validity of the CHES.

This version may be subject to change during the production process.

Background The Center for Latino Health Research Opportunities (CLaRO) supports and facilitates research addressing substance abuse, violence/trauma, and HIV/AIDS among diverse and underserved Latinx populations. CLaRO runs a pilot awards program for early-stage investigators conducting Latinx health disparities research. This pilot awards program was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating innovative responses for research continuity. Purpose The purpose of this commentary is to describe the challenges and innovative research methods developed in response to COVID-19 to continue Latinx health disparities research in the context of COVID-19. Methods/Results This commentary provides a brief description of each CLaRO pilot project, the challenges introduced by COVID-19, and innovative research methods to continue Latinx health disparities research during and beyond COVID-19. Conclusions Despite the challenges COVID-19 presents to the continuity of health disparities research, it also presents unprecedented opportunities to innovate. Such innovation is essential for solving persistent scientific, public health, and clinical challenges underlying current and emerging health disparities.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide event that has exacerbated stress and caused significant disruptions in the day-to-day living of families. Of particular concern are socially vulnerable families, which have felt the impacts of the pandemic most acutely. Because stress can alter family dynamics, it is important to understand which stressors impact families the most, and what resources can be leveraged to strengthen family functioning. The current study examined the impacts of COVID-19 on the conflict and cohesion of households with children compared to households without children. Additionally, we sought to assess how conflict and cohesion are related to social vulnerabilities in the context of the pandemic. Using an international sample, we analyzed responses to the COVID-19 Household Environment Scale (N = 4,122) using descriptive and bivariate analyses. Latent class analysis was used to identify patterns of family functioning in households with and without children. We found that social vulnerability was associated with more disrupted family functioning, and that households with children (n = 2,666) reported less disrupted family functioning when compared to households without children (n = 1,456), despite having higher social vulnerability scores. Our exploratory latent class analysis identified a five-class model among both subgroups. Conflict, cohesion, family functioning, and social vulnerability varied significantly by subgroup and class membership. Our findings add to a body of evidence that argues that despite facing greater vulnerability, households with children have many strengths to draw from. Family interventions that help to promote family cohesion and conflict resolution can foster resilience in stressful circumstances.