Reframing the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework: Strengthening the Behavioral Domain with the Inclusion of Psychological Factors.

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework (NIMHD-RF) provides a multidimensional structure to examine health disparities across domains and levels of influence. While influential, its current Behavioral Domain centers on observable behaviors and underrepresents key psychological factors and determinants that shape health outcomes among minoritized populations. This gap limits the framework's capacity to account for complex factors such as internalized stigma, identity-related stress, and cultural processes that significantly contribute to mental health disparities.

Understanding biopsychosocial factors influencing cigarette smoking among transgender and gender diverse individuals living in Argentina: a qualitative study.

Background: The prevalence of cigarette smoking among transgender women in Argentina is 42%, more than double the rate compared to cisgender women.

Objectives: To understand biopsychosocial factors influencing cigarette smoking among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals living in Argentina.

Methods: Between December 2023 and January 2024, 19 qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with TGD individuals.

Psychometric properties of the transgender identity stigma scale in Argentina.

Introduction: Transgender identity stigma (TIS) threatens the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals. To the best of our knowledge, there are no validated TIS measures developed for TGD individuals living in Argentina. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a TIS scale among a sample of TGD individuals living in Argentina.

Assessing Text Messaging Interactivity with a Vaping Cessation Intervention Among Latino Young Adults: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis.

Objective: To assess text messaging interactivity with a vaping cessation intervention among Latino young adults.

Methods: As part of a single-arm pilot study, 40 Latino young adults (ages 18-25) received , a vaping cessation text messaging intervention. , available in English and Spanish, was developed in partnership with a Community Advisory Board of Latino young adults and consisted of 212 text messages delivered throughout a 3-month period.

Beyond financial incentives: a quantitative study on spatial stigma and Puerto Rican physician migration to the United States.

Puerto Rico faces a significant health crisis due to the mass migration of physicians to the United States, exacerbating the challenge of achieving the World Health Organisation's recommended physician-to-population ratio. While economic factors such as higher salaries in the US have been identified as primary drivers, the complexity of this migration wave requires a deeper exploration. This study quantitatively examines the role of push factors, pull factors, and spatial stigmatisation in physician migration from Puerto Rico.

Do US quitsites present information related to providing services for LGBTQ individuals? An audit study.

Introduction: Most US quitlines have quitsites and websites designated to promote their services. Quitsites have the potential to encourage LGBTQ individuals to utilize quitline services by explicitly mentioning the provision of LGBTQ-competent services. The present study audited quitsites to determine the presence of information regarding services for LGBTQ individuals.

Disentangling gender, sex, and biology: a mixed methods study of gender identity data collection tools.

Objectives: We used community-based mixed methods to test whether transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people preferred gender identity questions developed by community members over current questions in use and generate hypotheses about data collection preferences.

Methods: We interviewed twenty TGD adults in English and Spanish, asking them to rate and discuss their responses to questions. We analyzed quantitative data with descriptive statistics and qualitative data with template analysis, then integrated them.

Puerto Rican physician's recommendations to mitigate medical migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States.

Puerto Rico (PR) is a United States (US) territory with a history of colonial violence, poverty, and government corruption. Due to these sociopolitical factors and natural disasters (e.g.

Development and Preliminary Validation of a Scale to Measure Perceived Therapist's Knowledge about Gender Identity Diversity among Trans and Non-Binary Individuals in Puerto Rico.

This study aimed to describe the development of the Perceived Therapist's Knowledge about Gender Identity Diversity Scale and to preliminarily validate this scale by describing its psychometric properties. This research instrument was constructed based on the existing literature and recommendations for instrument development. Initially, a 36-item scale was devised to assess perceived openness and knowledge about gender identity diversity in therapy.

Erotic Imagination in Latin America: Reflections on Sexual Fantasies and Coloniality.

Latin America comprises 20 countries and 14 dependent territories throughout the Western Hemisphere. It is a diverse and plural region in terms of its geography, cultures, languages, and historical experiences, with fifteenth-century colonialism as a common denominator. Two areas in which the lingering effects of coloniality seem clearly ever-present are the realms of gender and sexuality.

"They think we wear loincloths": Spatial stigma, coloniality, and physician migration in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico (PR) is facing an unprecedented healthcare crisis due to accelerating migration of physicians to the mainland United States (US), leaving residents with diminishing healthcare and excessively long provider wait times. While scholars and journalists have identified economic factors driving physician migration, our study analyzes the effects of spatial stigma within the broader context of coloniality as unexamined dimensions of physician loss. Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews with physicians throughout PR and the US, we identified how stigmatizing meanings are attached to PR, its people, and its biomedical system, often incorporating colonial notions of the island's presumed backwardness, lagging medical technology, and lack of cutting-edge career opportunities.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and previous natural disasters on the mental health of healthcare workers in Puerto Rico.

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic worries (e.g., fear of contagion) and previous exposure to natural disasters (e.

On leaving: Coloniality and physician migration in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico (PR) has a growing physician migration problem. As of 2009, the medical workforce was composed of 14,500 physicians and by 2020 the number had been reduced to 9,000. If this migration pattern continues, the Island will not be able to meet the recommended physicians per capita ratio proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Multidimensional Intelligences Model as a predictor for coming out acceptance and growth among LGB non-migrant Hispanics: A pilot study.

The coming out process has biopsychosocial components that occur whenever a lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) person shares their sexual orientation with another person. It is a complex and difficult process, but it has been described as an essential component for identity formation and integration. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess a Multidimensional Intelligences Model (MIM) (Body, Emotional, Social, and Ecological Intelligences) as predictor of the coming out acceptance (COA) and growth (COG).

Recommendations from Latinx Trans and Non-Binary Individuals to Promote Cancer Prevention in Puerto Rico and Florida.

Latinx trans and non-binary individuals (LTNB) face increased cancer-related health disparities. Studies evidence how barriers at the individual, provider and organizational levels drive cancer disparities among LTNB individuals. These barriers increase the emotional discomfort associated with testing and disengagement from cancer prevention efforts.

COVID-19 impact on the psychological health of Latinx transgender and non-binary individuals in mainland United States and Puerto Rico: a mixed-methods study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to generate an unprecedented impact on all aspects of everyday life across the world. However, those with historically and currently marginalized identities (i.e.

COVID-19 impact on the psychological health of Latinx transgender and non-binary individuals in mainland United States and Puerto Rico: A mixed-methods study.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic continues to generate an unprecedented impact on all aspects of everyday life across the world. However, those with historically and currently marginalized identities (i.e.

Global mental health research and practice: a decolonial approach.

The global health movement is having a paradigm crisis-a period characterised by a questioning of one's values, goals, and sense of identity. Despite important advances in population health worldwide, global health and global mental health often produce and reproduce power imbalances and patterns of oppression and exploitation that perpetuate the current modern world system (ie, Eurocentric, capitalist, and patriarchal) and its entangled global hierarchies (eg, gender, economic, epistemic, and linguistic). A consensus is emerging to decolonise global mental health, but it is not clear how to move from rhetoric to action.

Examining Cervical Cancer Preventive Behaviors for Latinx Transmasculine Individuals among Medical Students.

Latinx transmasculine men (LTM) can be at a particularly high risk for cervical cancer as they lie at the intersection of two health disparity populations (gender and ethnic minorities). Previous research using self-report measures has documented how negative interactions with providers are a key barrier for cervical cancer screening among LTM. However, no research to date has examined, via direct observation, cervical cancer preventive behaviors in clinical interactions with LTM.

Stigmatizing Experiences of Trans Men in Puerto Rico: Implications for Health.

The past decade has seen an increase in efforts aimed at understanding the health needs of the transgender population. In the context of Puerto Rico (PR), those efforts have primarily focused on trans women due to their high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence. However, due to the low impact of the HIV epidemic among trans men, this remains an understudied population in PR.

EXPLORING THE FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF BIOMARKER COLLECTION FOR HIV INFECTION AND CHRONIC STRESS AMONG TRANSWOMEN IN PUERTO RICO.

The assessment of biomarkers related to HIV and chronic stress increases opportunities for the design of more comprehensive research and intervention efforts on the health of transwomen within the context of Health Psychology. In this paper, we present data from a study implemented in Puerto Rico that aimed to: document the feasibility/acceptability of collecting biomarkers for chronic stress and HIV among transwomen; qualitatively document the factors related to the collection of biomarkers in this population; and explore the feasibility of collecting other types of biological specimens from transwomen in future studies. We implemented an exploratory mixed-method study with a sample of 10 transwomen.

The social context of hormone and silicone injection among Puerto Rican transwomen.

This paper draws on ethnographic, qualitative and survey data with transwomen in Puerto Rico to examine the social and political-economic context of lay injection with hormone and silicone - common practices within this community. We describe specific practices of hormone and silicone injection, the actors that govern them, the market for the sale and distribution of syringes and the networks of lay specialists who provide services to a population that is neglected by and largely excluded from biomedical settings. Our data derive from ethnographic observations, sociodemographic questionnaires, surveys and semi-structured interviews conducted with a diverse group of transwomen in metropolitan San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Intersections and evolution of 'Butch-trans' categories in Puerto Rico: Needs and barriers of an invisible population.

Public health research among transgender populations globally has primarily focused on HIV/AIDS. However, trans men remain outside of this conceptual framework, with distinct but overlapping social contexts and needs. In Puerto Rico (PR), the trans men population has remained largely hidden within the 'butch' lesbian community.

Experiences of Violence Among Transgender Women in Puerto Rico: An Underestimated Problem.

Violence is a public health concern faced on a daily basis by transgender women. Literature has documented how it adversely affects quality of life and health and in some instances leads to homicide. Considering the lack of research documenting the experiences of violence among transgender women, the objective of this article was to explore manifestations of violence among this population in Puerto Rico.