Department of Psychiatry, URMC

Paul Duberstein, Ph.D.

Academic and Clinical Appointments

Professor of Psychiatry
Director, Rochester Program of Research and Innovation in Disparities Education (PRIDE)
Director, Laboratory of Personality and Development

Contact Information

University of Rochester Medical Center
Department of Psychiatry
300 Crittenden Boulevard
Rochester, New York 14642-8409

(585) 275-6742

Paul_Duberstein@urmc.rochester.edu

Education

1978-1982 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA B.A. in Psychology

1984-1990 State University of New York at Buffalo, Ph.D. in Clinical Community Psychology

1988-1990 Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital, Predoctoral Internship and Fellowship

1990-1993 University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Postoctoral Fellowship, National Research Service Award, Laboratory of Suicide Studies, University of Rochester Clinical Research Center for the Study of Psychopathology in the Elderly

Research Focus
and Interests

Late life depression and suicide

Recognition and management of depression and suicide risk in primary care

Personality and health

Early adversities, sociocultural considerations, race, poverty, and health disparities

Professional Overview

Dr. Duberstein earned a PhD in Clinical and Community Psychology from SUNY Buffalo in 1990. Prior to joining the Rochester faculty, he completed an internship in clinical psychology at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Rochester. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1993, Associate Professor in 1999, and Professor in 2004. He has written or co-authored more than 130 scientific papers and co-edited (with Joseph Masling, PhD) one book, Psychodynamic Perspectives on Sickness and Health (American Psychological Association, 2000). Among his honors are the Edwin Shneidman Award from the American Association of Suicidology in recognition of his early career contributions to suicide research, the American Psychological Foundation’s Theodore Millon Award for advancing the science of personality psychology, and the UR School of Medicine & Dentistry’s Faculty Mentoring Award for his mentorship of junior faculty.

Dr. Duberstein is in the midst of developing a new research program focused on understanding and improving depressed older adults’ decisions to seek and adhere to treatment. He currently holds a K24 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to serve as a mentor to clinical scientists in geriatric mental health. He also serves on the faculty of the NIMH-funded Advanced Research Institute (ARI), a research education grant designed to help junior investigators secure R01s in geriatric mental health (link below)

He is Associate Editor of the journal Psychology and Aging, Co-Director of a research fellowship focused on prevention (NIMH) and Director of a research education program (NIMH) that aims to enhance the racial diversity of mental health researchers and enhance capacity to conduct community based participatory research. That initiative is called the Rochester Program of Research and Innovation in Disparities Education (Rochester PRIDE; link below). E-mail inquiries are warmly welcomed from prospective applicants to the clinical psychology internship and from scholars interested in pursuing postdoctoral research training

Publications

Selected Publications, 2007-Present

Late Life Depression and Suicide

Heisel, M.J., Duberstein, P.R., Talbot, N.L., King, D. A., Tu, X.M. (2009). Adapting Interpersonal Psychotherapy for older adults at risk for suicide: Preliminary findings. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40, 159-164.

Edelstein, B., Heisel, M.J., McKee, D.R., Martin, R.R., Koven, L.P., Duberstein, P.R., & Britton, P. (2009) Development and psychometric evaluation of the Reasons For Living- Older Adults Scale: A suicide risk assessment inventory. The Gerontologist, Jul 21, Epub ahead of print.

Duberstein, P.R., Pálsson, S., Waern, M., & Skoog, I. (2008). Personality and risk for depression in a birth cohort of 70 year olds followed for 15 years. Psychological Medicine, 38, 663-671.

Weiss, A., Sutin, A.R., Duberstein, P.R., Friedman, B., Bagby, R.M., & Costa, Jr. P. T. (2009). The personality domains and styles of the five-factor model are related to incident depression in Medicare recipients aged 65 to 100. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17, 7, 591-601.

Pinquart, M. & Duberstein, P.R. (2007). Treatment of anxiety disorders in older adults: A meta-analytic comparison of behavioral and pharmacological interventions. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 639-651.

Hirsch, J.K., Duberstein, P.R., Chapman, B., & Lyness, J.M. (2007). Positive affect and suicide ideation in older adult primary care patients. Psychology and Aging, 22, 380-385.

Duberstein, P.R. & Heisel, M.J. (2007). Personality traits and the reporting of affective disorder symptoms in older depressed patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 103, 165-171.

Useda, J.D., Duberstein, P.R., Beckman, A., Franus, N., Tu, X., & Conwell, Y. (2007). Personality differences in attempted suicide versus completed suicide in adults 50 years of age or older. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 126-133.

Recognition and Management of Depression and Suicide Risk in Primary Care

Vannoy, S.D., Fancher, T.,Meltvedt, C., Duberstein, P., Unützer, J., & Kravitz, R.L. (in press). Suicide inquiry in primary care: Creating context, inquiring, and following up. Annals of Family Medicine.

Duberstein, P., Chapman, B.P., Epstein, R.M., McCollumn, K.R., & Kravitz, R. (2008) Physician personality characteristics and the detection of depression in primary care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23, 1791-1795.

Chapman, B.P., Duberstein, P., Epstein, R.M., Fiscella, K., & Kravitz, R. (2008). Patient centered communication during primary care visits for depression: What is the role of physician personality? Medical Care, 46, 8, 806-812

Feldman, M., Franks, P., Duberstein, P.R., Vannoy, S., Epstein, R.M., & Kravitz, R. (2007). Let’s not talk about it: Doctors rarely ask depressed patients about suicide. Annals of Family Medicine, 5, 412-418.

Duberstein, P.R., Meldrum, S., Fiscella, K., Shields, C.G., & Epstein, R.M. (2007). Influences on patients’ ratings of physicians: Physicians demographics and personality. Patient Education and Counseling, 65, 270-274.

Personality and Health

Chapman, B.P., Fiscella, K., Kawchi, I., & Duberstein, P.R. (in press). Socioeconomic status, personality, and all cause mortality in the United States. American Journal of Epidemiology.

Benedict, R.H.B ., Wahlig, E., L., Topciu, R.A., Englert, J., Schwartz, E., Chapman, B., Weinstock-Guttmnan., B., & Duberstein, P.R. (2009). Personality traits in women with Multiple Sclerosis: A comparison of patient and partner reports. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 66, 147-154.

Chapman, B., Fiscella, K., Duberstein, P., Coletta, M., & Kawachi, I. (2009) Can the influence of childhood socioeconomic status on men's and women's adult body mass be explained by adult socioeconomic status or personality? Findings from a national sample. Health Psychology, 28, 419-427

Chapman, B.P., Franks, P., Duberstein, P.R., & Jerant, A.(2009). Differences between individual and societal health state valuations: any link with personality? Medical Care, 47, 902-907.

Chapman, B.P., Duberstein, P.R., & Lyness, J.M. (2007). Personality and medical illness burden among older adults in primary care. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 277-282.

Early Adversities, Sociocultural Considerations, Race, Poverty, and Health Disparities

Cankaya, B., Talbot, N.L., Chapman, B. P. Moynihan, J., & Duberstein, P.R. (in press). History of sudden unexpected loss is associated with elevated interleukin-6 and decreased insulin-like growth factor-1 in women in an urban primary care setting. Psychosomatic Medicine.

Topciu, R. A., Zhao, X., Tang, W., Heisel M. J., Talbot, N. L., & Duberstein, P. R. (2009). Childhood sexual abuse and personality differentiating high and low alexithymia in a depressed population. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 78, 385-387

Talbot, N.L., Chapman, B., Conwell, Y., McCollumn, K., Franus, N., Costescu, S., & Duberstein, P. R. (2009). Childhood sexual abuse is independently associated with physical illness burden and functioning in psychiatric patients 50 years of age and older. Psychosomatic Medicine, 71, 417-422.

Silenzio V., Pena J, Knox, K., Cerel J. & Duberstein, P.R. (2007). Differences in risk factors for suicide between sexual minority and majority adolescents: evidence from a national study. American Journal of Public Health.97, 2017-2019.

Pertinent Web Links

Program of Research and Innovation in Disparities Education (Rochester PRIDE)
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/smd/psych/educ_train/training/postdoctoral/P.R.I.D.E.FellowshipTrack.cfm

Psychology and Aging
http://www.apa.org/journals/pag/

Advanced Research Institute
http://www.advancedresearchinstitute.com/