Experiences of COVID-19 among Chinese-speaking lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Hong Kong: an inductive thematic analysis of survey response data.

As social inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been recognised, emerging research showed that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people may be additionally affected during the pandemic. This paper adds to the understanding of the experiences of LGB people during the pandemic with a focus on Hong Kong, where issues of space significantly influence LGB people's lives in this city with high population density. As part of a larger community study of LGB lives in Hong Kong, COVID-19-related impact on 434 Chinese-speaking LGB people was explored. Data collection was conducted from 20 May to 30 June 2020. Inductive thematic analysis of the open-text response survey data found that the LGB participants described both negative and positive impacts brought by COVID-19. Such impacts could be dimensionalised into those related to personal space and privacy, romantic and sexual space, and community space. It was also found that the experiences of COVID-19 among LGB people in Hong Kong were intersectional, along the lines of living arrangement and relationship status. Such findings make unique contributions to the emerging literature. First, there needs to be a more nuanced understanding of sexual minority individuals' experiences during COVID-19 across cultural contexts. Second, COVID-19 was described as having brought positive impact in addition to its widely known negative impact.

Dyadic associations between COVID-19-related stress and mental well-being among parents and children in Hong Kong: An actor-partner interdependence model approach.

The spread of COVID-19 and its subsequent social distancing policies have profoundly impacted the lives of parents and children. Prolonged exposure to parenting-related responsibilities and heightened levels of family conflict under stay-at-home orders coupled with reduced access to support systems and resources have rendered parents and children more prone to stress and mental health difficulties. Drawing on a transactional model of parent-child interactions, the present study applied an actor-partner interdependence model approach to examine the transactional relationship between COVID-19-related stress and mental well-being among parents and children. Data from 109 Chinese parent-child dyads in Hong Kong were included in the study. Parents and their 8- to 10-year-old children completed a questionnaire on COVID-19-related stress, parent-child relationships, and mental well-being. The results showed that 53.2% and 30.3% of the parents and children, respectively, showed poor mental well-being, indicating possible emotional problems. Both actor and partner effects of parent COVID-19-related stress were found. Parent COVID-19-related stress was indirectly related to lower levels of parent and child mental well-being, through the mediation of parent-child conflict. To facilitate psychological adjustment following the COVID-19 outbreak, effective family-based mental health and parenting interventions are needed to promote family cohesion and alleviate stress-induced psychological symptoms. Even in the time of social distancing, telepsychotherapy and other online non-psychotherapeutic interventions can serve as a valid alternative for parents and children who experience excessive distress. Implications for psychological services, family-friendly policies, and social protection measures are also discussed.

An exploratory study of factors associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the disruption of provision of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services. This study examined the factors associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An online survey of 236 Chinese-speaking gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong conducted in 2020. RESULTS: Among those who expressed a need to access HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic, 22.9%, 33.9% and 43.2% indicated moderate-to-high, mild and no difficulties in accessing these services, respectively. Difficulties in accessing HIV services were positively related to concerns about potential COVID-19 infection, experience of actual impact on health because of COVID-19, disruption in work/studies, and reduced connection to the LGBT+ community during the pandemic. It was also found that difficulties in accessing HIV services were positively associated with frequency of having sex with casual partners, but were not significantly associated with frequency of having sex with regular partners. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel empirical evidence for understanding difficulties in accessing HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that disruption in work/studies and frequency of having sex with casual partners were associated with difficulties in accessing HIV services.

Elevated Levels of COVID-19-Related Stress and Mental Health Problems Among Parents of Children with Developmental Disorders During the Pandemic.

COVID-19 not only threatens people's physical health, but also creates disruption in work and social relationships. Parents may even experience additional strain resulting from childcare responsibilities. A total of 129 parents participated in this study. Parents of children with developmental disorders showed higher levels of parenting stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms than did parents of children with typical development. Parenting stress and health worries were positively related to mental health symptoms. The association between having a child with developmental disorders and mental health symptoms was mediated by parenting stress. This study provides a timely investigation into the stress and mental health of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications on web-based parenting skills interventions, online psychological support services, and family-friendly policy initiatives are discussed.

To Have or Not to Have Sex? COVID-19 and Sexual Activity Among Chinese-Speaking Gay and Bisexual Men in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has fundamentally changed daily routine, including sexual activity. However, most research on sexual activity during the COVID-19 pandemic focused on heterosexual individuals. The only study so far on men who have sex with men was conducted in the United States. AIM: Our study expands the understanding of sexual activity during the COVID-19 pandemic by studying gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong. Although sexual desire and sexual activity continue to be important aspects of one's life during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are COVID-19-related barriers to having sex. This study therefore examined the association between sexual desire, COVID-19-related barriers, and whether to engage in sexual activity or not during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: 857 cisgender sexual minority people in Hong Kong participated in an online survey study, and for this article, only male participants were included in the analysis, yielding an analytical sample of 376 gay and bisexual men. OUTCOMES: Participants were asked to assess their sexual desire (ie, sexual drive and sexual motivation), COVID-19-related barriers (ie, perceived difficulties to have sex with another person during the pandemic and perceived risk of COVID-19 infection), and sexual activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: It was found that while sexual desire remained prevalent among the gay and bisexual men, COVID-19-related barriers were also commonly observed. Sexual drive and sexual motivation were positively associated with sexual activity. Perceived difficulties to have sex with another person during the pandemic and perceived risk of COVID-19 infection were negatively predictive of engaging in sexual activity, after controlling for general sexual desire. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Understanding the ambivalence and driving and inhibiting factors for having sex during the COVID-19 pandemic can provide a new framework for understanding people's sexual activity during an unprecedented scale of the pandemic. It is likely that abstinence would not work as the respondents expressed strong sexual desire and that the pandemic is going to last for a long time. Governments, policy makers, and sexual scientists need to work together to come up with practicable, feasible, and easy-to-follow guidelines for having sex during the pandemic. STRENGTH & LIMITATIONS: This is one of the first studies to examine the impact of COVID-19 on sexual activity among gay and bisexual men. The results should be interpreted with caution because of the use of cross-sectional design and nonprobability sampling. CONCLUSION: Sexual desire and COVID-19-related barriers serve as driving and inhibiting factors in explaining whether or not people have sex during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suen YT, Chan RCH, Wong EMY. To Have or Not to Have Sex? COVID-19 and Sexual Activity Among Chinese-Speaking Gay and Bisexual Men in Hong Kong. J Sex Med 2021;18:29-34.

Effects of general and sexual minority-specific COVID-19-related stressors on the mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in Hong Kong.

The impact of COVID-19 on mental health has begun to be widely recognized, but there is an absence of studies on how the mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 857 LGB people in Hong Kong participated in a community-based survey study. Over one-fourth of them met the criteria for probable clinical depression (31.5%) and generalized anxiety disorder (27.9%). Besides general stressors, we identified sexual minority-specific stressors during the pandemic. 4.2% of the participants indicated that they had frequently experienced family conflict related to sexual orientation. One-third responded that they had largely reduced connection to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender plus (LGBT+) community (34.7%). The results showed that sexual minority-specific COVID-19-related stressors explained significant variance in depressive and anxiety symptoms, above and beyond the contribution of general COVID-19-related stressors. Since LGB people are particularly vulnerable to poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, LGB people-targeting organizations need to understand more about family, space, and privacy concerns in order to provide better support, and LGB safe spaces and shelters may be needed as a policy response.