Ms Kristien Michielsen
Associate Professor

Kristien Michielsen’s field of expertise is Global Sexual and Reproductive Health, with a specific focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health Behaviour, in particular of adolescents and young people.
Kristien is a trained social scientist (2001), and obtained a PhD in Social Medical Sciences from Ghent University in 2012. She has been working for ICRH since 2006, and in this period her research mainly focused on sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing of adolescents and young people, in several countries in Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Kristien’s research research experience includes both quantitative - setting up (longitudinal controlled) trials, survey development and implementation and analysis (SPSS, Stata) -, qualitative - in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, narratives, and analysis (NVivo) - and systematic literature research.
Over the past years, Kristien has been involved in multiple research projects related to adolescent sexual and reproductive health, on topics as: the formation of gender norms in early adolescence and its impact of sexual health (Global Early Adolescent Study), adherence to ARV treatment among HIV-positive adolescents in Kenya (ELIMIKA), evaluation of holistic sexuality education (European Expert Group on Sexuality Education), and a post-hoc process evaluation of a multi-component intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy in Latin America.
Kristien currently holds a position as professor at ICRH, where she is responsible for general support to the centre, guiding PhD and master students, fund acquisition, and setting out a research line on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. Kristien Michielsen is member of a number of national and international networks related to sexual and reproductive health.
Publications of Kristien
2023 Adults’ perceptions on adolescent attitudes towards pregnancy and abortion in Maputo and Quelimane Cities, Mozambique : an exploratory qualitative studyKristien Michielsen
2022 Barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening among under-screened women in Cuenca, Ecuador : the perspectives of women and health professionalsOlivier Degomme, Kristien Michielsen, Heleen Vermandere
2022 A comparative human rights analysis of laws and policies for adolescent contraception in Uganda and KenyaKristien Michielsen, Katrina Perehudoff
2022 Which factors contribute to sexual well-being? A comparative study among 17 to 20 year old boys and girls in Belgium and EcuadorSara De Meyer, Kristien Michielsen
2022 Trends and determinants of adolescent pregnancy : results from Kenya demographic health surveys 2003–2014Peter Gichangi, Kristien Michielsen
2022 The International Sexual Health And REproductive Health during COVID-19 (I-SHARE) study : a multicountry analysis of adults from 30 countries prior to and during the initial coronavirus disease 2019 waveKristien Michielsen, Wei-Hong Zhang
2022 Gendered experiences of parent–child communication on sexual and reproductive health issues : a qualitative study employing community-based participatory methods among primary caregivers and community stakeholders in rural South-Western UgandaKristien Michielsen
2022 How did COVID-19 measures impact sexual behaviour and access to HIV/STI services in Panama? Results from a national cross-sectional online surveyKristien Michielsen
2022 Level and comfort of caregiver–young adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health : a cross-sectional survey in south-western UgandaKristien Michielsen
2022 Sexual and reproductive health during COVID-19 : the I-SHARE multi-country surveyKristien Michielsen
2022 Sexual satisfaction and sexual behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic : results from the International Sexual Health And REproductive (I-SHARE) health survey in LuxembourgKristien Michielsen
2021 The social context of early adolescents in the Global Early Adolescent StudySara De Meyer, Kristien Michielsen
2021 Barriers to sexuality education for children and young people with disabilities in the WHO European region : a scoping reviewKristien Michielsen
2021 Gender and health in very young adolescentsKristien Michielsen
2021 International sexual health and reproductive health (I-SHARE) survey during COVID-19 : study protocol for online national surveys and global comparative analysesKristien Michielsen
2021 Online health survey research during COVID-19Kristien Michielsen
2020 Antenatal care practices among hard-to-reach fishing communities on Lake Victoria : a community-based cross-sectional surveyOlivier Degomme, Kristien Michielsen, Katrina Perehudoff
2020 Components of antenatal care received by women in fishing communities on Lake Victoria, Uganda : a cross sectional surveyOlivier Degomme, Kristien Michielsen, Katrina Perehudoff
2020 Induced abortion : a cross-sectional study on knowledge of and attitudes toward the new abortion law in Maputo and Quelimane cities, MozambiqueOlivier Degomme, Kristien Michielsen
2020 Institutional and contextual obstacles to sexuality education policy implementation in UgandaEls Leye, Kristien Michielsen