Research Interests for Kathleen J. Sikkema

Research Interests: HIV/AIDS, global mental health, community intervention trials, HIV mental health and prevention intervention trials, South Africa

Kathleen J. Sikkema, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Global Health, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University, is a clinical psychologist with emphases in health and community psychology. She is the Director of the Clinical Psychology Program at Duke, Director of Doctoral Studies at the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), Director of the Social and Behavioral Science Core in Duke's Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), and Director of the Global Mental Health Initiative at DGHI.

Dr. Sikkema, an expert in randomized, controlled HIV prevention and mental health intervention trials, has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for nearly 25 years. She conducts research on the development of HIV-related mental health interventions focused on traumatic stress and coping. Sikkema's intervention programs have been recognized by the CDC as "best evidence interventions" as well as the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).

Dr. Sikkema's research is also focused on the development and evaluation of HIV risk behavior change interventions, with expertise in community-level intervention trials and university-community collaboration. She recently developed and evaluated a brief risk reduction intervention (PC: Positive Choices), in collaboration with the Callen Lorde Community Health Center, for those newly diagnosed with HIV, with implications for engagement in care and HIV prevention.

Dr. Sikkema's current research is focused in South Africa, collaborating with various South African universities since 2001. Building on prior work with abused women, she recently completed a multi-method longitudinal study to inform development of innovative intervention approaches related to gender, HIV risk and alcohol use in South Africa. Dr. Sikkema's current efforts are focused on the development of mental health interventions that address the intersection of HIV care engagement and HIV prevention.

Website:
http://psychandneuro.duke.edu/research/labs/sikkema-lab

Representative Publications   (search)
  1. Sikkema, KJ; Abler, L; Hansen, NB; Wilson, PA; Drabkin, AS; Kochman, A; MacFarlane, JC; DeLorenzo, A; Mayer, G; Watt, MH; Nazareth, W, Positive choices: outcomes of a brief risk reduction intervention for newly HIV-diagnosed men who have sex with men., Aids and Behavior, vol. 18 no. 9 (September, 2014), pp. 1808-1819 [doi[abs].
  2. KJ Sikkema, KW Ranby, CS Meade, NB Hansen, PA Wilson, A Kochman, Reductions in traumatic stress following a coping intervention were mediated by decreases in avoidant coping for people living with HIV/AIDS and childhood sexual abuse, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, vol. 81 no. 2 (2013), pp. 274-283 [abs].
  3. Sikkema, KJ; Watt, MH; Meade, CS; Ranby, KW; Kalichman, SC; Skinner, D; Pieterse, D, Mental health and HIV sexual risk behavior among patrons of alcohol serving venues in Cape Town, South Africa., J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, vol. 57 no. 3 (July, 2011), pp. 230-237 [21372724], [doi[abs].
  4. Sikkema, KJ; Watt, MH; Drabkin, AS; Meade, CS; Hansen, NB; Pence, BW, Mental health treatment to reduce HIV transmission risk behavior: a positive prevention model., Aids Behav, vol. 14 no. 2 (April, 2010), pp. 252-262 [20013043], [doi[abs].
  5. Sikkema, KJ; Neufeld, SA; Hansen, NB; Mohlahlane, R; Van Rensburg, MJ; Watt, MH; Fox, AM; Crewe, M, Integrating HIV prevention into services for abused women in South Africa., Aids and Behavior, vol. 14 no. 2 (April, 2010), pp. 431-439 [19826941], [doi[abs].
  6. Sikkema, KJ; Hansen, NB; Meade, CS; Kochman, A; Fox, AM, Psychosocial predictors of sexual HIV transmission risk behavior among HIV-positive adults with a sexual abuse history in childhood., Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 38 no. 1 (February, 2009), pp. 121-134 [17999171], [doi[abs].
  7. Sikkema, KJ; Wilson, PA; Hansen, NB; Kochman, A; Neufeld, S; Ghebremichael, MS; Kershaw, T, Effects of a coping intervention on transmission risk behavior among people living with HIV/AIDS and a history of childhood sexual abuse., Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, vol. 47 no. 4 (April, 2008), pp. 506-513 [18176319], [doi[abs].
  8. Sikkema, KJ; Hansen, NB; Ghebremichael, M; Kochman, A; Tarakeshwar, N; Meade, CS; Zhang, H, A randomized controlled trial of a coping group intervention for adults with HIV who are AIDS bereaved: longitudinal effects on grief., Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, vol. 25 no. 5 (September, 2006), pp. 563-570 [17014273], [doi[abs].
  9. Meade, CS; Sikkema, KJ, Voluntary HIV testing among adults with severe mental illness: frequency and associated factors., Aids and Behavior, vol. 9 no. 4 (December, 2005), pp. 465-473 [16323033], [doi[abs].
  10. Sikkema, KJ; Kelly, JA; Winett, RA; Solomon, LJ; Cargill, VA; Roffman, RA; McAuliffe, TL; Heckman, TG; Anderson, EA; Wagstaff, DA; Norman, AD; Perry, MJ; Crumble, DA; Mercer, MB, Outcomes of a randomized community-level HIV prevention intervention for women living in 18 low-income housing developments., American Journal of Public Health, vol. 90 no. 1 (January, 2000), pp. 57-63 [10630138], [doi[abs].