Silvia Sörensen, PhD

Academic and Clinical Appointments

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Curriculum Vitae

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Contact Information

Education

Research
Focus and
Interests

Professional Overview

Dr. Sörensen has extensive experience in conducting research and teaching in the area of human development, particularly aging. She has received national and international recognition and funding to study the influences on preparation for care and its outcomes for the quality of life of older adults.

Before coming to the University of Rochester, Dr. Sörensen was an assistant professor at Utah State University, where she was also Director of the Gerontology Certificate Program. She was an invited visiting professor in psychology at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany. In 2000 she received a National Research Service Award Fellowship to apply her research to medical settings and is presently Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. In 2003 she received a career development award from the National Institute on Aging to examine the long-term effects of preparation for future care on functional status and subjective well-being and an R03 to validate a measure of preparation for future care in the African American population.

Dr. Sörensen is co-founder and Director of the Aging Well Initiative, a community partnership charged with promoting healthy aging for families of color. She also works with the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired on a research project on Maculur Degeneration and Psychological Well-being.

Dr. Sörensen is a fellow of the Gerontological Association of America, a member of the American Psychology Association, the American Psychological Society, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development.

She is Director of the Community Relations and Recruitment Core of the Rochester Center for Mind Body Research. (www.urmc.rochester.edu/smd/Psych/research/RCMBR/RCMBRCores.cfm)

Selected Publications

Sörensen, S. & Zarit, S. H. (1996). Preparation for caregiving: A study of multi-generation families. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 42 (1), 43-63.

Sörensen, S. (1998). Predictors of anticipating caregiving in multi-generation families: An exploratory study. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 14 (4), 499-520.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2000). Entwicklung eines Fragebogens zur Vorbereitung von Senioren auf einen zukünftigen Hilfs- und Pflegebedarf (FVP): Skalenkonstruktion und teststatistische Überprüfung [Development of a measure of preparation for future care needs for seniors: scale construction and psychometrics], Diagnostika, 46, (3), 130-139.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2000). Influences of socioeconomic status, social network, and competence on subjective well-being in later life: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 15 (2), 187-224.

Sörensen, S. & Pinquart, M. (2000). Preparation for future care needs by West and East German seniors. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 55B (6), S357-S367.

Sörensen, S. & Pinquart, M. (2000). Preparation for future care needs: Styles of preparation used by older Eastern German, United States, and Canadian women. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 15 (4), 349-381.

Sörensen, S., & Pinquart. M. (2000). Vulnerability and access to resources as predictors of preparation for future care needs in the elderly. Journal of Aging and Health, 12 (3), 275-300.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2001). Gender differences in self-concept and psychological well-being in old age: A meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 56 (4), P195-213.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2001). How effective are psychotherapeutic and other psychosocial interventions with older adults? A Meta-analysis. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 7 (2), 207-243.

Sörensen, S. & Pinquart, M. (2001). Developing a measure of older adults’ preparation for future care needs. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 53 (2), 137-175.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2002). Psychological outcomes of preparation for future care needs. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 21 (4), 452-470.

Sörensen, S., Pinquart, M. & Duberstein, P. (2002). How effective are interventions with caregivers? An updated meta-analysis. The Gerontologist, 42(3), 356-372.

Sörensen, S. & Webster, J. & Roggman, L. A. (2002). Adult Attachment and preparation for caregiving. Attachment and Human Development, 4 (1), 84-106.

Duberstein, P., Sörensen, S., Lyness J.M., King, D.A., Conwell, Y., Seidlitz, L., & Caine, E. (2003). Personality is associated with perceived health and functional status in older primary care patients. Psychology and Aging, 18(1), 25-37.

Pinquart, P. & Sörensen, S. (2003). Associations of stressors and uplifts with caregiver burden and depressive mood: A meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58B (2), P112-P128.

Pinquart, P. & Sörensen, S. (2003). Differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in psychological health and physical health: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 18, 250-267.

Pinquart, P., Sörensen, S. & Davey, A. (2003). National and regional differences in preparation for future care needs: A comparison of the United States and Germany. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 18, 53-78.

Steele, M., Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2003). Preparation dimensions and styles in long term care. Clinical Gerontologist, 23(3/4), 105-122

Delgadillo, L., & Sörensen, S. (2004). An exploratory study of factors related to preparation for future care among older Hispanics in Utah.Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 25 (1): 51-78.

Lyness, J.M., King, D.A., Conwell, Y., Duberstein, P.R., Eberly, S., Sörensen, S., Caine, E.D. (2004). Self-rated health, depression, and one-year health outcomes in older primary care patients. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12(1), 110-113.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S (2004). Associations of caregiver stressors and uplifts with subjective well-being and depressive mood: A meta-analytic comparison. Journal of Aging and Mental Health, 8, 438-449.

Pinquart, M. Sörensen, S. & Peak, T. (2004). Helping older adults and their families develop and implement care plans. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 43(4), 3-23.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2005). Ethnic differences in stressors, resources, and psychological outcomes of family caregiving: A meta-analysis. The Gerontologist, 54(1), 90-106.

Conner, K.R., Sörensen, S., & Leonard, K.E. (2005) Initial depression and subsequent drinking during alcoholism treatment. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66 (3), 401-406.

Sörensen, S. & Pinquart, M. (2005). Racial and ethnic differences in the relationship of caregiving stressors, resources, and sociodemographic variables to caregiver depression and perceived physical health. Journal of Aging and Mental Health, 9(05), 1-14

Calabrese, S. K. Lyness, J. M., Sörensen, S, & Duberstein, P.R. (2006).  Personality and the association of pain and depression.  American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(6), 546-549.

Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. (2006).  Gender differences in caregiver stressors, social resources, and health: An updated meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 61B(1), P33–P45.

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

Sörensen, S., Duberstein, P.R., Gill, D. & Pinquart, M. (2006). Dementia Caregiving: Mental Health Effects, Intervention Strategies, and Clinical Implications.  The Lancet: Neurology, 5, 961-973.

Pinquart M., & Sörensen, S. (2007). Correlates of physical health of informal caregivers: meta-analysis.  Journals of Gerontology:  Psychological Science, 62(2), P126-137.

Hafen, M., Sörensen. S. (2008). Preparation for future care needs by parents providing care for their adult offspring with disabilities. Illness, Crisis and Loss 16 (1), 37-51.

Sörensen, S., Duberstein, P.R., Chapman, B.P., Lyness, J.M., & Pinquart, M. (in press, 2008).  How is personality related to preparation for future care needs? Journals of Gerontology-Psychological Sciences.