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

Contact Information

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

Psychosocial aspects of cancer

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

Professional Overview

Dr. Duberstein earned a Ph.D. in Clinical and Community Psychology from SUNY Buffalo in 1990. Prior to joining the Rochester faculty in 1993, 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 100 scientific papers and co-edited (with Joseph Masling, PhD) one book, Psychodynamic Perspectives on Sickness and Health (American Psychological Association, 2000).

He currently directs the Laboratory of Personality and Development (LPD).  Falling under the auspices of the Rochester Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Sciences, the LPD is integrated into the ongoing activities of both the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide (see link below) and the Rochester Center for Mind Body Research (see link below). Researchers in the LPD are devoted to the study of personality, aging, and health in naturalistic and treatment settings.  The driving premise is that personality has significant implications for a wide array of  mental and physical health outcomes; the strength of the relationship between personality and health shifts across the lifespan and is influenced by sociocultural considerations (e.g., racism, stigma, ageism), socioeconomic position, and the nature of the outcome variable.  Two conceptually related lines of inquiry are proceeding in parallel.  One concerns individuals, and focuses on the relationships between personality and mood disorders, suicide risk, and health indicators, including health behaviors,  physical disease, physical function, and immunity. The second concerns dyads, and is premised on the idea that personality indirectly affects mental and physical health outcomes by undermining or facilitating communication with friends, family members, and health care providers.

Dr. Duberstein has received awards for his scientific and educational contributions. In 2000, he received the Edwin Shneidman Award from the American Association of Suicidology, in recognition of his early career contributions to research on the psychosocial aspects of depression and suicide in older adults. He received the American Psychological Foundation’s Theodore Millon Award in 2005 for advancing the science of personality psychology. Also in 2005, he received the UR School of Medicine & Dentistry’s Faculty Mentoring Award for his mentorship of junior faculty.

Dr. Duberstein currently holds a K24 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to serve as a mentor to clinical scientists interested in psychosocial influences on late-life depression. He is also Co-PI on two T32s (NIMH) and PI on an R25 (NIMH), a research education grant that aims to enhance the racial diversity of researchers committed to academic careers in mental health research 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; (see link below). Dr. Duberstein is also the Associate Editor of the journal Psychology and Aging and serves on the faculty of the NIMH-funded Advanced Research Institute, a research education grant designed to help junior investigators secure R01s in geriatric mental health.  Dr. Duberstein welcomes e-mail inquiries from prospective applicants to the clinical psychology internship and from scholars interested in pursuing postdoctoral research training in suicide prevention; late-life depression; personality, aging and health; or race and poverty-related health disparities.

Publications

Late Life Depression and Suicide

Vannoy, S., Duberstein, P.R., Cukrowicz, K., Lin, E., Fan, M-Y. & Unützer, J. (in press). The relationship between suicide ideation and late-life depression. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

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. (in press).  Personality traits and the reporting of affective disorder symptoms in older depressed patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, epub February 2007.

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.

Heisel, M.J., Duberstein, P.R., Conner, K.R., Franus, N., Beckman, A., & Conwell, Y. (2006). Personality and reports of suicide ideation among depressed adults 50 years of age or older. Journal of Affective Disorders, 90, 175-180.

Sörensen, S., Duberstein, P., Gill, D., & Pinquart, M. (2006). Dementia care: Mental health effects intervention strategies, and clinical implications. Lancet-Neurology, 5, 961-973.

Pinquart, M., Duberstein, P.R., & Lyness, J.M. (2006) Treatments for later life depressive conditions: A meta-analytic comparison of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1493-1501.

Tsoh, J.M.Y., Chiu, H.F.K., Duberstein, P.R., Chan, S.S.M., Chi, I., Yip, P., & Conwell, Y. (2005). Attempted suicide in elderly Chinese persons: A multi-group controlled study. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 562-571.

Duberstein, P.R., Conwell, Y., Conner, K.R., Eberly, S., Evinger, J.S., & Caine, E.D. (2004). Poor social integration and suicide: Fact or artifact? A case-control study. Psychological Medicine, 34, 1331-1337.

Heisel, M.J. & Duberstein, P.R. (2005). Suicide prevention in older adults. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 12, 242-259.

Duberstein, P. R., Conwell, Y., Conner, K.R., Eberly, S., & Caine, E.D. (2004). Suicide at 50 years of age and older: Perceived physical illness, family discord, and financial strain. Psychological Medicine, 34, 137-146

Recognition and Management of Depression and Suicide Risk in Primary Care

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

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.

Kravitz, R.L., Franks, P., Feldman, M., Meredith, L.S., Hinton, L., Franz, C., Callahan, E., Duberstein, P.R., & Epstein, R.M. (2006). What drives referral from primary care physicians to mental health specialists? A randomized trial using actors portraying depressive symptoms . Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 584-589.

Epstein R.M., Shields, C.G., Meldrum, S.C., Fiscella, K., Carroll, J., Carney, P.A., & Duberstein, P.R. (2006). Physicians’ responses to patients’ medically unexplained symptoms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 269-276.

Epstein R.M., Franks, P., Fiscella, K., Shields, C.G., Meldrum, S.C., & Duberstein, P. (2005). Measuring patient-centered communication in patient-physician consultations: Theoretical practical issues . Social Science and Medicine, 61, 1516-1528.

Personality and Health

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.

Chapman, B., Duberstein, P.R., Sörensen, S., & Lyness, J.M. (2006). Personality and perceived health in older adults: The Five Factor Model in primary care. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 61, P362-P365.

Weiss, A., Costa, P.T., Jr., Karuza, J., Duberstein, P.R., Friedman, B., & McCrae, R.R. (2005). Cross-sectional age differences in personality among medicare patients  aged 65 to 100. Psychology and Aging, 20, 182-185.

Duberstein, P.R., Sörensen, S., Lyness, J.M., King, D.A., Conwell, Y., Seidlitz, L. & Caine, E.D. (2003). Personality is associated with perceived health and functional status in older primary care patients. Psychology and Aging, 18, 25-37.

Psychosocial Aspects of Cancer

Pinquart, M., & Duberstein, P.R. (2005). Optimism, pessimism, and depressive symptoms in spouses of lung cancer patients. Psychology and Health, 20, 565-578.

Kim, Y., Duberstein, P.R., Sörensen, S., & Larson, M. (2005). Levels of depressive symptoms in spouses of people with lung cancer: Effects of personality, social support, and caregiving burden. Psychosomatics, 46, 126-130.

Pinquart, M. & Duberstein, P.R. (2004). Information needs and decision-making processes in older cancer patients. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 51, 69-80.

Abernethy, A.D., Chang, H. T., Seidlitz, L., Evinger, J.S., & Duberstein, P.R. (2002). Religious coping and depression among spouses of people with lung cancer. Psychosomatics, 43, 456-463.

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

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

Talbot, N.L., Duberstein, P.R., Cox, C., Denning, D., & Conwell, Y. (2004). Preliminary report on childhood sexual abuse, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts, among middle aged and older depressed women. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12, 536-538.

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

Rochester Center for Mind Body Research (RCMBR)

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/smd/psych/research/RCMBR/index.cfm

http://www.rochesterpreventsuicide.org

Psychology and Aging

http://www.apa.org/journals/pag/

Advanced Research Institute