The Impact of COVID-19 among Recent Latinx Immigrants: Examining Opportunities for Intervention

摘要 新出现的证据显示COVID-19对美国拉丁裔移民的影响不成比例 社区对COVID-19后果的担忧在拉丁裔人口中尤其严重， 迈阿密-戴德县，佛罗里达人口最多的县。截至4月24日，所有报告的COVID-19病例中有35% 在佛罗里达州（10，926人），27%的死亡人数（287人）和30%的住院人数（12，465人）是居民 迈阿密-戴德县鉴于迈阿密-戴德市处于2019冠状病毒病疫情的中心， 佛罗里达及其280万居民中的大多数是拉丁裔移民，迫切需要探索 COVID-19对这一人群的影响。拉丁裔移民在就业方面面临越来越多的挑战， 财政紧张、获得护理的机会、有限的社会支持系统、语言障碍以及与 移民身份对遵守COVID-19遏制和缓解措施造成障碍，并可能 加剧下游健康影响，如心理健康和药物使用问题。效果都是相对的 最近的拉丁裔移民，其中许多人经历了被迫移民，并正在努力适应一个 新的东道国，可能特别具有破坏性。 拟议的研究通过利用正在进行的NIAAA赞助的纵向研究来解决这一迫切需要。 研究集（目前正在进行第二波数据收集）。具体而言，该研究将给予 补充COVID-19协议，以我们已经参与的最近拉丁裔移民样本。这些数据将 与目前通过母研究收集的大流行前和大流行后数据合并。首要目标 拟议研究的目的是（1）检查对COVID-19遏制和缓解的坚持和态度 努力以及（2）社会文化因素与COVID-19相关压力如何影响酒精和 其他药物使用和不良心理健康结果。这项研究将立即 利用母研究队列、基础设施和现有方案，快速评估 2019冠状病毒病在这个脆弱的拉丁裔亚群中大流行。这些知识对于及早告知 响应程序，有能力减轻有害的COVID-19依从性和缓解工作， 大流行的压力因素，以及随后的下游健康后果，如酒精和其他药物的使用 和不良的心理健康结果。此外，从拟议方案中获得的知识 研究可用于检查COVID-19对原始研究结果的影响（即，受损 驾驶、运输）。这项调查的结果可以证明是非常宝贵的，在了解 COVID-19在最近的拉丁裔移民中引发的行为变化，并为有效的政策提供信息 在面对未来大流行病复发时可适用的文化相关的外联战略。

Abstract Emerging evidence reveals the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the US Latinx immigrant community. Concern for the consequences of COVID-19 is especially high among the Latinx population in Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. As of April 24, 35% of all reported COVID-19 cases in the state of Florida (10,926), 27% of deaths (287), and 30% of persons hospitalized (12,465) were residents of Miami-Dade County. Given that Miami-Dade is at epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Florida and the majority of its 2.8 million residents are Latinx immigrants, there is an urgent need to explore the impact of COVID-19 in this population. Latinx immigrants face increased challenges related to employment, financial strain, access to care, limited social support systems, language barriers, and fears related to immigration status that create barriers to adherence of COVID-19 containment and mitigation efforts, and could exacerbate downstream health effects such as mental health and substance use problems. The relative effect on recent Latinx immigrants, many of whom have experienced forced migration and are struggling to adapt to a new host country, may be particularly devastating. The proposed study addresses this urgent need by leveraging an ongoing NIAAA-sponsored longitudinal study set (currently in the second wave of data collection). Specifically, the study will administer a supplemental COVID-19 protocol to our already engaged sample of recent Latinx immigrants. This data will be merged with pre- and post-pandemic data currently being collected via the parent study. The overarching aim of the proposed study is to (1) examine adherence and attitudes to COVID-19 containment and mitigation efforts and (2) how sociocultural factors coupled with COVID-19 related stress impacts changes in alcohol and other drug use and adverse mental health outcomes in this population. This research would immediately leverage the parent study cohort, infrastructure, and existing protocol to rapidly assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this vulnerable Latinx subgroup. This knowledge will be critical to informing early response procedures with the power to mitigate deleterious COVID-19 adherence and mitigation efforts, pandemic stressors, and subsequent downstream health consequences such as alcohol and other drug use and adverse mental health outcomes in this population. Additionally, knowledge gained from the proposed study can be utilized to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on the original study outcomes (i.e., impaired driving, transportation). Findings from this investigation can prove to be invaluable in understanding the behavioral changes triggered by COVID-19 among recent Latinx immigrants, and informing effective policies and culturally relevant outreach strategies that can be applied in the face of future pandemic recurrences.