Introduction: Using Evidence-Based Cognitive and Behavioral Principles to Improve HIV-Related Psychosocial Interventions

• HIV-related behavioral interventions focus on reducing unprotected sex or improving medication adherence or quality of life.
• Cognitive behavioral principles have formed the basis for many efficacious HIV-related behavioral interventions.
• Current HIV-related behavioral interventions combine treatment of existing mental health problems or novel delivery systems.
• This special series presents detailed “how to” information of a variety of cutting-edge HIV-related behavioral interventions.

Behavioral interventions have been, and continue to be, a cornerstone of efforts to prevent new HIV infections, as well as to improve the physical and mental health of people living with the virus. Most existing efficacious behavioral interventions, many based on the principles of cognitive behavior therapy, have been developed and disseminated to focus on reducing unprotected sex, given that the HIV epidemic in the United States is primarily facilitated through sexual contact, and improving adherence to life-saving HIV medications. The new wave of behavioral HIV interventions builds on that strong foundation by integrating cognitive and behavioral techniques to ameliorate mental health symptoms, focusing content to be culturally tailored to unique subpopulations, and implementing novel delivery methods (telephone, family-based, etc.). The articles that appear in this special series report on the details of several novel, evidence-based, cognitive behavioral interventions related to HIV prevention or treatment.