Kirk von Sternberg, Ph.D., is a professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, and the associate director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT). von Sternberg has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in behavioral science from the University of Texas Health Science Center-School of Public Health. von Sternberg has 20 years of experience in designing and implementing large clinical trials to test behavior change interventions based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) and Motivational Interviewing (MI). As an investigator, he has been responsible for study design and data analysis on several large NIH and CDC funded randomized controlled intervention trials addressing risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies, alcohol and safer sexual practices, STI screening, cocaine abuse, and screening and brief interventions for alcohol and drugs in medical settings to name a few. Along with a current intervention trial, CHOICES Teen, to prevent alcohol- and marijuana-exposed pregnancy (CDC) in sexually active adolescent women involved in the criminal justice system, von Sternberg has particular interest in the mechanisms of change and is currently involved in mediation analyses of process of behavior change constructs and the predictive quality of profiles of TTM constructs.
Professional Interests
Health behavior interventions based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Motivational Interviewing, including alcohol- and tobacco-exposed pregnancy, HIV prevention, alcohol and other substance abuse in medical settings.
Research
- Be Well Texas: Treatment and Recovery Grant Program – SBIRT (2026)
- Component A: Engaging Social Workers in Preventing Alcohol- and other Substance-Exposed Pregnancies (2026)
- CHOICES-TEEN: Efficacy of a Bundled Risk Reduction Intervention for Juvenile Justice Females (2026) (2026)
- Engaging Social Workers in Boosting COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake (2022)
- Tablet-based intervention to prevent substance-exposed pregnancy in primary care (2020)
- National Social Work Collaboration for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) (2019)
- CHOICESPlus+: Adapted Intervention for UTHealth (DSRIP) (2019)
- Multidisciplinary approach to reduce injury and substance abuse (2015)
- Brief alcohol interventions in trauma settings (2012)
- How does motivational interviewing work? Mechanisms of action in Project CHOICES (2011)
- Screening, brief intervention, referral and treatment (SBIRT) (2010)
- Translating behavioral health interventions into the primary care setting (2009)
- Translating evidence-based behavioral interventions into community practice (2008)
- Smoking relapse prevention among postpartum women (2007)
- Transtheoretical Model Group Therapy For Cocaine (2007)
- CHOICES+: Preconception approach to reducing alcohol and tobacco-exposed pregnancy (0101)