# Risk and resilience to late-life suicidal ideation and behavior after spousal bereavement:  Targeting social connectedness to strengthen circadian rhythmicity

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $782,706

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Our past research has demonstrated that feelings of social disconnectedness and conflictual relationships are
factors that often undermine deterrents to suicide. Experiencing the death of a spouse or life partner is a
profoundly distressing event that may cause abrupt changes in one’s daily routine, including decreased self-
care and withdrawal from social activities. While most individuals adapt over time, a substantial number of
older bereaved spouses (20-35%) experience depression, loneliness, suicidal thoughts, and early mortality,
including death by suicide. Thus, late-life spousal bereavement provides a “natural experiment” in which to
study the impact of a well-defined and common social stressor on suicide risk in late life. The objective of this
R01 application is to examine the risk for and resilience to late-life suicide during the early spousal
bereavement period by investigating the extent to which (1) social connectedness influences suicide risk and
(2) whether circadian rhythm instability (inconsistent patterns of sleep, activity, meals, and socialization) helps
explain this association. We will enroll 169 spousally-bereaved adults aged 65 years or older, who currently
have at least subthreshold symptoms of depression or have a history of depression and/or suicide attempt. We
will include participants early after spousal death: during the first six months post loss. All participants will
complete repeated assessments over 12 months of multiple dimensions of social connectedness, clinical
assessments (depression and suicide ideation), and objective assessments of circadian rhythmicity
(actigraphy-derived 24-hour patterns of rest/activity, sleep onset and timing, and circadian phase advances or
delays). Thus, we will be able to investigate whether circadian rhythmicity and delayed sleep onset and timing
will be associated with higher suicide risk. Participants will also complete a behavioral probe, designed to
promote self-care behaviors in older bereaved spouses (called “WELL” or Widowed Elders’ Lifestyle After
Loss), a digital health intervention. WELL targets the timing and regularity of social activities, sleep, and meals
to determine whether modifying social connectedness reduces suicide risk and whether circadian rhythm
stability explains part of this association. Preliminary data indicate that WELL increases both (a) stability of
circadian rhythms (i.e., regular sleep, activity, meals, and socialization) and (b) social connectedness. We will
take full advantage of our longitudinal design and repeated assessments by using high-dimensional statistical
models to examine how longitudinal change in multiple dimensions of social connectedness relates to change
in circadian rhythm stability as a possible biobehavioral mechanism, and whether it directly and/or indirectly
effects suicide risk in late-life. The proposed research aligns with RFA MH-22-135 by identifying (1)
“mechanisms by which social disconnect...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10894755
- **Project number:** 5R01MH132114-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah T Stahl
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $782,706
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10894755

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10894755, Risk and resilience to late-life suicidal ideation and behavior after spousal bereavement:  Targeting social connectedness to strengthen circadian rhythmicity (5R01MH132114-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10894755. Licensed CC0.

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