Kimberly Van Orden
University of Rochester, NY·Psychology·Early-career
Feeling lonely or cut off from other people is more than an emotional problem in later life. Loneliness and social isolation raise the risk of all ten leading causes of death in the U.S., are strongly linked to memory and thinking decline and to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), and are among the strongest risk factors for suicide.
- Fields
Psychology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Public Health & Epidemiology
- Topics
loneliness
social isolation
social connection
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through Jun 2029
What they work on
- Test whether behavioral interventions for loneliness and social isolation improve cognitive functioning in older adults, using meta-analysis of published studies and new analyses of completed trials.
- Examine whether baseline cognitive impairment predicts how much older adults' loneliness improves with intervention, using secondary analyses of completed trials from the lab and the Rochester Roybal Center.
- Identify why some older adults do not stick with loneliness interventions, and combine these findings with human and animal research to build a testable model of brain and behavioral intervention targets.
- Test whether daily caregiving stressors and rewards change loneliness and perceived burden in 200 dementia caregivers, using 10 days of smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment.
- Determine whether loneliness and perceived burden carry the effect of caregiving stress onto daily suicidal thoughts, and whether suicidal thoughts predict worse caregiving and care-receiver decline at 6 months.
- Test whether Social Engage Coaching (S-ENG), a 10-session coaching program, increases objective and subjective social connection in lonely older adults with suicidal thoughts in senior living communities.
- Compare S-ENG with enhanced usual care in a randomized trial of 120 older adults, testing whether it reduces suicidal thoughts and improves quality of life over 20 weeks.
More about the research
Yet healthcare rarely screens for or treats them, partly because the evidence on what works is thin. The lab's projects ask how social disconnection harms mental and brain health in older adults and family caregivers, and whether helping people connect with others can reverse that harm.
Why it matters
Older adults and family caregivers of people with dementia face high rates of loneliness, cognitive decline and suicide risk, with few proven interventions. This work could establish social connection as a treatable target in routine care. It may provide a coaching approach to lower late-life suicide risk, identify which caregivers most need support, and show whether loneliness interventions also protect thinking skills and help prevent dementia.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Brain and Behavioral Mechanisms Linking Loneliness and Social Isolation with Accelerated Cognitive Aging and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
NIH · Aug 2024 – Jun 2029
Promoting Social Connection to Prevent Late-Life Suicide
NIH · Jan 2023 – Dec 2028
Social Connection and Suicide Risk in ADRD Caregivers
NIH · Sep 2023 – May 2028
Closest labs
Kevin Kuehn
University of California-San Diego, CA·Psychology·Early-career
Refine the personalized suicide prevention intervention PRECISE using a user-centered design approach and a case series with high-risk adults.
Madhukar Trivedi
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Investigate how the amount of social media use and positive or negative online experiences affect depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation trajectories over six months in 100 at-risk Texas youth.
Andrea Baldelli
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Psychology·Early-career
Refine questionnaires, interviews and behavioral tasks that measure social motivation and suicidal thoughts and behaviors so they are valid for a diverse group of preteen girls aged 8 to 11.
The school
University of Rochester: 38 labs on PI Pages, $492M a year on research, 308 research doctorates a year.
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