selected peer-reviewed publications

I have conducted research at the intersection of race and ethnicity; discrimination and stigma; mental health and psychological distress; social, structural, and commercial determinants of health; and cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking, particularly menthol cigarette smoking, brings substantial health risks for minoritized racial and ethnic people, yet it is highly prevalent among many folks of color. Menthol suppresses the harshness of tobacco smoke by chemically generating a subjective cooling effect on the throat, buccal mucosa, and lungs, which influences addiction processes, amplifies absorption of nicotine and other particulates and chemicals in combusted smoke, and contributes to difficulties quitting smoking for minoritized people, especially for Black folks, LGBTQ+ people, and people with mental illness. Stress, anxiety, racism, body image, and historical trauma influence the perceived benefits of smoking among colonized people. Tobacco companies, adjudicated racketeers according to the U.S. federal courts, have tainted the sacred tobacco plant used ceremoniously by Indigenous people and engaged in predatory political lobbying, advertising, and marketing practices for decades to boost profits while addicting youth and adults to nicotine, worsening our collective health and wealth, and contributing to the deaths of millions of Americans. Tobacco smoking still kills close to a half million Americans each year with no indicators of abatement. Research-driven policies focused on the elimination of commercial tobacco products at the local, state, federal, and tribal levels are still beneficial in staving off the scourge of addiction, disease, and death caused by the tobacco industry.

Hickman, NJ, Delucchi KL, Prochaska JJ. (2015). Treating tobacco dependence at the intersection of diversity, poverty, and mental illness: A randomized feasibility and replication trial. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 17(8), 1012-1021. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntv034. Pubmed abstract & article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26180227/

Hickman, NJ, Delucchi, KL, Prochaska, JJ. (2014). Menthol use among smokers with psychological distress: Findings from the 2008 and 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Tobacco Control, 23(1), 7-13. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050479. Pubmed abstract & article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4258063/

Hickman, NJ, Delucchi, KL, Prochaska, JJ. (2010). A population-based examination of cigarette smoking and mental illness in Black Americans. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 12(11), 1125-1132. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntq160. Pubmed abstract & article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20855413/

Young-Wolff, KC, Hickman NJ, 3rd, Kim, R, Gali, K, Prochaska, JJ. (2015). Correlates and prevalence of menthol cigarette use among adults with serious mental illness. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 17 (3), 285-291. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntu141. Pubmed abstract & article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25190706/

Kim, R, Hickman, N, Gali, K, Orozco, N, Prochaska, JJ. (2014). Maximizing retention with high risk participants in a clinical trial. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28(4), 268-274. doi: 10.4278/ajhp.120720-QUAN-355. Pubmed abstract & article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23875989/

Brown-Johnson, CG, Cataldo, JK, Orozco, N, Lisha, NE, Hickman, NJ, Prochaska, JJ. (2015). Validity and reliability of the internalized stigma of smoking inventory: An exploration of shame, isolation, and discrimination in smokers with mental health diagnoses. The American Journal on Addictions, 24, 410-418. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12215. Pubmed abstract & article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25930661/

Hickman NJ, Prochaska JJ, Dunn LB. Screening for research consent capacity in the inpatient psychiatry setting. (2011). Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 6(3): 65-72. Pubmed abstract and article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3357117/

My research as a doctoral student focused on elucidating psychosocial and commercial determinants of health linked to commercial tobacco product: appeal, seeming cultural alignment, and perceived wide access and use among minoritized racial and ethnic people in the United States of America.

Landrine, H, Corral-Monarrez, I, Klonoff, EA, Jensen, J, Kashima, K, Hickman, N, Martinez, J. (2008). Ethnic disparities in youth access to tobacco: California statewide results, 1999-2003. Health Promotion Practice, 11(1), 132-139. Pubmed abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18480321/

Landrine, H, Klonoff, EA, Fernandez, S, Hickman, N, Kashima, K, Parekh, B, Thomas, K, Brouillard, C, Zolezzi, M, Jensen, J, Weslowski, Z. (2005). Cigarette advertising in Black, Latino, and White magazines, 1998-2002: An exploratory investigation. Ethnicity & Disease, 15(1), 63-67. Pubmed abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15720050/

Fernandez, S, Hickman, N, Klonoff, EA, Landrine, H, Kashima, K, Parekh, B, Brouillard, C, Zolezzi, M, Jensen, J, Weslowski, Z. (2005). Cigarette advertising in magazines for Latinas, White women, and men, 1998-2002: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Community Health, 30(2), 141-151. Pubmed abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15810566/

Hickman, N, Klonoff, E, Landrine, H, Kashima, K, Parekh, B, Fernandez, S, Thomas, K, Brouillard, C, Zolezzi, M, Jensen, J, Weslowski, Z. (2004). Preliminary investigation of the advertising and availability of PREPs, the new 'safe' tobacco products. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27(4):413-424. Pubmed abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15559736/

Jensen, J, Hickman, N, Landrine, H, Klonoff, EA. (2004). Availability of tobacco to youth via the internet. Journal of the American Medical Association, 291(15), 1837. doi:10.1001/jama.291.15.1837. Pubmed reference: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15100201/