Publications by authors named "Harkness A"

Purpose Of Review: Latino/x/e men who have sex with men (LMSM) in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV. Peer-led adjunctive interventions show promise for enhancing engagement in HIV prevention and care among LMSM, but their effectiveness and implementation remain underexplored. This scoping review aimed to map existing evidence on peer-led interventions, identify gaps, and inform future research for enhancing HIV prevention and care among LMSM.

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People living with HIV (PLWH) experience a range of co-occurring psychosocial stressors, mental health symptoms, and structural barriers (e.g., "syndemics") that can impair their ability to adhere to medical recommendations for treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Through interviews and focus groups, researchers identified five key qualities that make peer implementers credible: proper training, verification, accurate information delivery, interpersonal skills, and engagement with the LGBTQ+ community.
  • * The findings aim to improve peer strategies for HIV prevention and treatment, including recruitment, training, and supervision of peer implementers.
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Background: LGBTQ-affirmative cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for reducing transdiagnostic mental and behavioral health concerns among LGBTQ individuals. Preserving the effects of this intervention as it is translated into practice can maximize public health benefits. This study systematically identifies and evaluates implementation strategies for LGBTQ-affirmative CBT.

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Families are key in the healthy development of Latinx sexual minority youth (Latinx SMY), a group that experiences behavioral, mental, and sexual health disparities. Despite this, there are no family-based interventions for Latinx SMY and their families to prevent drug use, sexual risk behaviors, and depressive symptoms. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the preliminary impact (i.

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Existing research on Latino cultural factors mainly focuses on gender and nationality, often overlooking sexual orientation and giving limited attention to the experiences of Latino sexual minority men in the United States of America (USA). This study addressed this gap by exploring how sexual minority men identify, describe and experience Latino cultural factors. Between April and December 2019, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 men (ages 18-40, 43% non-US-born) in the greater Miami, Florida area to explore their engagement in HIV prevention and behavioural health services.

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Background: Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective biological option for HIV prevention yet persistent disparities in PrEP uptake and retention exist among Hispanic/Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). We evaluated barriers and facilitators to PrEP care among Hispanic/Latino MSM at risk for and living with HIV.

Setting: A small urban setting in the Northeastern United States.

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Background: Transparency can build trust in the scientific process, but scientific findings can be undermined by poor and obscure data use and reporting practices. The purpose of this work is to report how data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study has been used to date, and to provide practical recommendations on how to improve the transparency and reproducibility of findings.

Methods: Articles published from 2017 to 2023 that used ABCD Study data were reviewed using more than 30 data extraction items to gather information on data use practices.

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Introduction: Implementation science (IS) offers methods to systematically achieve the Ending the HIV Epidemic goals in the United States, as well as the global UNAIDS targets. Federal funders such as the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) have invested in implementation research to achieve these goals, including supporting the AIDS Research Centres (ARCs), which focus on high-impact science in HIV and mental health (MH). To facilitate capacity building for the HIV/MH research workforce in IS, "grey areas," or areas of IS that are confusing, particularly for new investigators, should be addressed in the context of HIV/MH research.

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Background: Transparency can build trust in the scientific process, but scientific findings can be undermined by poor and obscure data use and reporting practices. The purpose of this work is to report how data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study has been used to date, and to provide practical recommendations on how to improve the transparency and reproducibility of findings.

Methods: Articles published from 2017 to 2023 that used ABCD Study data were reviewed using more than 30 data extraction items to gather information on data use practices.

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Among sexual minority men (SMM), HIV and use of stimulants such as methamphetamine are linked with immune activation and systemic inflammation. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, SMM encountered financial challenges and structural obstacles that might have uniquely contributed to immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation, beyond the impacts of HIV and stimulant use. Between August 2020 and February 2022, 72 SMM with and without HIV residing in South Florida enrolled in a COVID-19 prospective cohort study.

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Article Synopsis
  • LV diastolic function impairment is common in left heart disease and contributes to significant health issues, highlighting the need for thorough assessment in patients, especially those with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
  • Invasive methods are the gold standard for measuring LV relaxation and filling pressures, but non-invasive trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) is preferred due to its accessibility, safety, and fast results.
  • Understanding the nuanced processes of LV diastole, including the early and late filling phases, is crucial, as normal functioning involves low-pressure filling under various conditions, influencing overall cardiac health.
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Using a cross-sectional survey study with undergraduate students ( = 1257; age = 20; 908 women) in the United States, this paper examined college students' use of social media for coping and its association with COVID-19-related worries (loneliness, interpersonal stress, anxiety) and mental health outcomes (depression, generalized anxiety, and life satisfaction). Undergraduate students were found to use social media frequently during the pandemic to socially connect with others online and to modulate negative emotions. Structural equation modeling revealed that COVID-19-related worries were positively related to social media use for coping and that coping using social media was negatively related to general mental health concerns (depression, generalized anxiety) and positively associated with general mental health wellness (i.

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Awareness and uptake of the meningitis vaccine remains low among marginalized groups, such as Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM), potentially due to structural and psychosocial barriers in accessing preventative healthcare. The current study explored awareness and uptake of meningitis vaccines among a group of LMSM (N = 99) living in South Florida. A three-pronged variable selection approach was utilized prior to conducting regression models (linear and logistic).

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: Many university students pregame or drink before a social event. Pregaming carries some risk due to its link to heavy drinking. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was limited access to many drinking venues (e.

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Biomedical tools for HIV prevention such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) continue to be underutilized by subgroups experiencing significant HIV inequities. Specifically, factors associated with both PEP awareness and uptake both cross-sectionally and longitudinally are under-researched, despite PEP being a part of the United States' Plan for Ending the HIV Epidemic. The current study examined longitudinal predictors of PEP awareness among Latino sexual minority men (LSMM) living in South Florida.

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A drinking game (DG) is a risky social drinking activity that is prevalent among university students and promotes rapid alcohol consumption. We examined university students' DG behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students ( 368; =21.

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Existing HIV prevention interventions, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and behavioral health treatments inadequately reach Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) in the US. This study involved formative research to inform the content, design, and implementation of a scalable, low resource implementation strategy - peer ambassador stories - stories from peers to normalize using PrEP, HIV testing, and behavioral health treatment. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 LMSM to elucidate their content, design, and implementation preferences for peer ambassador stories.

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Sexually themed events present a unique opportunity for scaling up pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to men who have sex with men (MSM). This study descriptively explored PrEP uptake among MSM who anticipated attending a week-long major South Florida sexually themed event and examined potential facilitators and barriers to PrEP engagement among potential attendees. Of the participating HIV-negative MSM (n = 96), 66.

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The 2022 outbreak of mpox disproportionately impacted men who have sex with men and people living with HIV. As such, HIV organizations were uniquely situated to reach populations affected by mpox. However, the extent to which these organizations pivoted to address mpox, and what form mpox messaging took, is unknown.

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HIV test counselors are well positioned to refer individuals to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and behavioral health treatments. HIV test counselors in Miami-Dade County (N = 20), a priority jurisdiction for Ending the HIV Epidemic, completed interviews to assess determinants of PrEP and behavioral health treatment referrals. To identify determinants, we used a rapid deductive qualitative analysis approach and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).

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These guidelines form an update of the BSE guideline protocol for the assessment of restrictive cardiomyopathy (Knight et al. in Echo Res Prac, 2013). Since the original recommendations were conceived in 2013, there has been an exponential rise in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis fuelled by increased clinician awareness, improvements in cardiovascular imaging as well as the availability of new and effective disease modifying therapies.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to refine and establish measures of multilevel barriers and facilitators to HIV testing and PrEP for Latino sexual minority men (LSMM).

Design: Cross-sectional measure validation.

Setting: Participants from Miami, FL.

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Latino sexual minority men (LSMM) may experience oppression based on their ethnicity, sexual orientation, and migratory status, yet scientific literature is only beginning to explore the intersection of these experiences. This study examined mental health (MH) in relation to LSMM's experiences of intersectional oppression and affirmation. We conducted a secondary analysis of baseline data from a cohort study examining LSMM's ( = 290) health care engagement in Miami, FL, from February to September 2020.

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Peer-led HIV interventions are an increasingly common and low-cost strategy to address shortages of professionally trained health workers for implementing evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment interventions to populations who experience health disparities. There is a need to understand the experiences and unmet needs of this essential workforce responsible for implementing and delivering HIV interventions to ensure their implementation efforts are sustainable. This commentary provides a brief overview of barriers to peer deliverers' sustained engagement in the HIV workforce and potential implementation strategies to promote the sustainment of peer deliverers' implementation efforts.

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