# Efficacy of a Healthy Lifestyle Intervention to Prevent Depression in Older Spousally bereaved Adults - Supplement > **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $90,746 ## Abstract PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT My ongoing research (R01 MH118270) examines the efficacy of a digital health intervention to stabilize the 24- hour rhythm of sleep, meals, and physical activity for reducing symptoms of depression in acutely-bereaved older adults. The onset of COVID-19 in 2020 occurred in tandem with the start-up phase of this study. As a result, I experienced significant setbacks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the recruitment of older adults was significantly delayed (due to quarantine, social distancing, and participant concerns) and enrollment did not start until January of 2021 – 17 months into the project period. This delay had cascading effects on the study timeline and the feasibility of implementing a 15-month study in a newly-truncated project period. Second, I was an Early-Stage Investigator (ESI) who experienced significant disruptions to the startup of my independent research lab. Not only did I hire, train, and motivate staff in an uncertain and virtual working environment, but my reduced level of productivity impacted future milestones in my career trajectory (e.g., submission of new grants, development of new collaborations, and time to promotion). I exhausted all other means to overcome COVID-19 setbacks for this study. For instance, I modified the intervention and study protocol to be 100% contactless and virtual, and I expanded the reach of my intervention to geographic locations across the United States. Since the start of enrollment in 2021, my study team has enrolled 87% of our target sample and retained 91% of participants over the 15-month follow-up. I am confident in my team’s ability to finish this study. However, the parent aims may not be achievable unless I can secure additional funding to complete follow-up. In this administrative supplement, I propose to use additional funds for partial salary support for my study staff to complete post-intervention follow-up for 45 individuals. The proposed supplement aligns with NOT-MH-23 because (1) substantial components of the initial investment are at risk (e.g., longitudinal data are required for the planned analyses) and (2) I was an ESI implementing my first substantial research grant from the NIMH. This study is the first of its kind to test the effects of a circadian- influenced behavioral intervention on reducing depression after the loss of a spouse/life partner – a distressing albeit common life event in late life. Findings from this study will inform the development of widely generalizable and scalable technology-based intervention to support bereaved persons in community-based settings. However, additional funds are necessary to complete the project and collect post-intervention follow- up data. ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 11063439 - **Project number:** 3R01MH118270-05S1 - **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:** $90,746 - **Award type:** 3 - **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2025-05-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11063439 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11063439, Efficacy of a Healthy Lifestyle Intervention to Prevent Depression in Older Spousally bereaved Adults - Supplement (3R01MH118270-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11063439. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*