Yeates Conwell, M.D.

Academic and Clinical Appointments

Professor of Psychiatry

Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, Dept. of Psychiatry

Co-Director, Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide

Contact Information

Education

1976 A.B. Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

1980 MD University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio

1976-1980 Resident in Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

1984-1985 PGY-5 Fellow, Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven CT.

Research Focus
and Interests

Professional Overview

Yeates Conwell, M.D. received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and his residency training in psychiatry from Yale Univesity. Following a fellowship year at Yale, he joined the Department of Psychiatry’s Program in Geriatrics and Neuropsychiatry in 1985. Since then he has developed an extensive program of research in the risk factors for, and the prevention of, suicidal behaviors. He served as the Director of Residency Education programs in the Department of Psychiatry from 1993–99 and as a director of an institutional National Research Service Award (T32) for post-doctoral training in suicide prevention research. He currently acts as primary mentor for four K awardees at the UR and provides consultation in research and research career development to investigators throughout the country. In his role as Associate Chair for Academic Affairs he oversees the Department of Psychiatry's education programs and faculty development.

Publications

Representative Publications since 2000

Duberstein PR, Conwell Y, Seidlitz L, Denning DG, Cox C, Caine ED: Personality traits and suicidal behavior and ideation in depressed inpatients 50 years of age and older. Journal of Gerontology – Psychological Sciences 55B:P18-P26, 2000

Conwell Y, Lyness JM, Duberstein PR, Cox C, Seidlitz L, DiGiorgio A, Caine ED: Completed suicide among older patients in primary care practices: a controlled study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 48:23-29, 2000

King DA, Conwell Y, Cox C, Henderson RE, Denning DG, Caine ED: A neuropsychological comparison of depressed suicide attempters and nonattempters. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 12:64-70, 2000

Rubio A, Vestner AL, Stewart JM, Forbes NT, Conwell Y, Cox C: Suicide and Alzheimer’s pathology in the elderly: a case-control study. Biological Psychiatry 49(2):137-145, 2001

Lyness JM, King DA, Conwell Y, Cox C, Caine ED: Cerebrovascular risk factors and 1-year depression outcome in older primary care patients. American Journal of Psychiatry 157:1499-1501, 2000

Nisbet PA, Duberstein PR, Conwell Y, Seidlitz L: The effect of participation in religious activities on suicide versus natural death in adults 50 and older. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease 188(8):543-6, 2000

Conwell Y: Suicide in later life: A review and recommendations for prevention. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior 31 (Spec. suppl.):32-47, 2001

Conner KR, Duberstein PR, Conwell Y: The validity of proxy-based data in suicide research: A study of patients 50 years of age and older who attempted suicide. I. Psychiatric diagnoses. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 104:204-209, 2001

Conner KR, Conwell Y, Duberstein PR: The validity of proxy-based data in suicide research: A study of patients 50 years of age and older who attempted suicide. II. Life events, social support, and suicidal behavior. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 104:452-457, 2001.

Seidlitz L, Lyness JM, Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Cox C: Profile of discrete emotions in affective disorders in older primary care patients. Gerontologist 41:643-651, 2001.

Duberstein PR, Conner KR, Conwell Y, Cox C. Personality correlates of hopelessness in depressed inpatients 50 years of age and older. Journal of Personality Assessment 77(2):380-390, 2001

Conner KR, Cox C, Duberstein PR, Tian L, Nisbet PA, Conwell Y: Violence, alcohol, and completed suicide: a case-control study. American Journal of Psychiatry 158:1701-1705, 2001

Conner KR, Duberstein PR, Conwell Y, Seidlitz L, Caine ED: Psychological vulnerability to completed suicide – a review of empirical studies. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior 31:367-385, 2001.

Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Conner K, Eberly S, Cox C, Caine ED: Access to firearms and risk for suicide in middle-aged and older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 10(4): 407-416, 2002.

Turvey CL, Conwell Y, Jones MP, Phillips C, Simonsick E, Pearson JL, Wallace R: Risk factors for late-life suicide. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 10(4):398-406, 2002.

Houghtalen RP, Olivares TE, Greene Y, Booth H, Conwell Y: Residents’ morning report in psychiatry training. Academic Psychiatry 26:9-16, 2002

Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Caine ED: Risk factors for suicide in later life. Biological Psychiatry 52:193-204, 2002.

Zhang J, Wieczorek WF, Jiang C, Zhou L, Jia, S, Sun Y, Jin, S, Conwell Y. Studying suicide with psychological autopsy: Social and cultural feasibilities of the methodology in China. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 32(4): 370-379, 2002.

Duberstein PR, Sorensen S, Lyness JM, King DA, Conwell Y, Seidlitz L, Caine ED. Personality is associated with perceived health and functional status in older primary care patients. Psychology & Aging 18(1):25-37, 2003.

Conner KR, Langley J, Tomaszewski KJ, Conwell Y. Injury hospitalization and risks for subsequent self-injury and suicide: A national study in New Zealand. American Journal of Public Health 93:1128-1131, 2003.

Talbot NL, Duberstein PR, Cox C, Denning D, Conwell, Y.: A Preliminary Report on Childhood Sexual Abuse, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide Attempts among Middle-aged and Older Adult Women. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, in press.

Conner KR, Beautrais AL, Conwell Y: Moderators of the relationship between alcohol dependence and suicide and medically serious suicide attempts: Analyses of Canterbury Suicide Project Data. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27:1156-1161, 2003.

Suominen K, Henriksson M, Isometsä I, Conwell Y, Heilä H, Lönnqvist J: Nursing home suicides - a psychological autopsy study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 18:1095-1101, 2003.

American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Suicidal Behaviors - Jacobs DG, Baldessarini RJ, Conwell Y, Fawcett JA, Horton L, Meltzer H, Pfeffer CR, Simon RI: Practice guidelines for the assessment and treatment of patients with suicidal behaviors. American Journal of Psychiatry (supplement) 160 (11): 1-60, 2003.

Conner KR, Beautrais AL, Conwell Y: Risk factors for suicide and medically serious suicide attempts among alcoholics: analyses of Canterbury Suicide Project data. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 64:551-554, 2003.

Knox KL, Conwell Y, Caine ED: If suicide is a public health problem, what are we doing do prevent it? American Journal of Public Health 94:37-45, 2004.

Duberstein PR, Conwell Y, Conner KR, Eberly S, Caine ED: Suicide at 50 years of age and older: perceived physical illness, family discord and financial strain. Psychological Medicine 34:137-146, 2004.

Conner KR, Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Eberly S. Aggression in suicide among adults ages 50 and over. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 12:37-42, 2004.

Lyness JM, King DA, Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Eberly S, Sörensen SM, Caine ED: Self-rated health, depression, and one-year health outcomes in older primary care patients. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 12:110-113, 2004.

Castle K, Duberstein PR, Meldrum S, Conner KR, Conwell Y: Risk factors for suicide in blacks and whites: An analysis of data from the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey. American Journal of Psychiatry 161:452-458, 2004.

Chaudron LH, Szilagyi PG, Kitzman HJ, Wadkins HIM, Conwell Y: Detection of postpartum depressive symptoms by screening at well childcare visits. Pediatrics 113:551-558, 2004.

Pertinent Web Links

www.rochesterpreventsuicide.org