Faculty

Sarah T Stahl, PhD

Sarah T Stahl, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara Street
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
Center for Late Life Depression

Education & Training

PhD
Developmental Psychology, West Virginia University
Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Professional Affiliations

Member, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
Member, American Psychosomatic Society
Member, Gerontological Society of America

Selected Honors & Awards

Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Early Stage Investigator Award, Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research
Barry Lebowitz Early Career Scientist Award, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
Excellence in Research in the Field of Aging and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh Aging Institute

Research Interests

Bereavement, grief, and aging; Circadian rhythms and late-life depression; Behavioral interventions for depression prevention
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Stahl ST, Altmann HM, Dew MA, Albert SM, Butters M, Gildengers A, Reynolds CF, Karp JK. The effects of gait speed and psychomotor speed on risk for depression and anxiety in older adults with medical comorbidities. J Amer Geriatr Soc. In press.
  2. Stahl ST, Rodakowski J, Smagula SF. Timing of daily activities over a 24-hour period and affective status among a national cohort of older dementia caregivers J Aging Health. In press.
  3. Stahl ST, Neagoe I, Smagula SF, Posluszny DM, Bovbjerg DH. Cancer bereavement and depression symptoms in older spouses: The modifying role of the circadian rest-activity rhythm. Clin Gerontol. 2021; 44: 126-132.
  4. Stahl ST, Smagula SF, Dew MA, Albert SM, Schulz RA, Reynolds, CF. Digital monitoring of sleep, meals, and physical activity for reducing depression in older spousally-bereaved adults: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020; 28(10): 1102-1106.
  5. Altmann H, Stahl ST, Gebara MA, Lenze EJ, Mulsant B, Blumberger D, Reynolds CF, Karp JF. Co-prescribed benzodiazepines in older adults receiving antidepressants for anxiety and depressive disorders: Association with treatment outcomes. J Clin Psychiatry. 2020; 81(6): 20m13283.

Education Interests

Gerontology; Grief support education; Behavioral intervention development
Selected Education Publications & Products
  1. Ferguson K, Reitschuler-Cross E, Stahl ST. A multimethod examination of medical students experiences with bereavement and complicated grief. OMEGA-J Death Dying. 2021; In press

New Research on Predicting Medication Nonadherence in Older Adults with Difficult-to-Treat Depression in the Incomplete Response in Late-Life Depression Getting to Remission Randomized Controlled Trial

Dr. Sarah Stahl

Over 50% of depressed older adults do not achieve remission with first-line antidepressant treatment, and only half of older adults improve with augmentation or switch to another medication. Multiple factors contribute to poor treatment response including incorrect diagnosis, comorbid physical or psychiatric conditions, and somatic symptoms that overlap with other illnesses. Older adults also experience...

Carla Mazefsky, PhD, & Sarah Stahl, PhD, Honored for Medical Student Research Mentorship

Carla Mazefsky, PhD, & Sarah Stahl, PhD, Honored for Mentorship

Congratulations to Carla Mazefsky, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology), & Sarah Stahl, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science), who have received Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Awards from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Research Mentoring Merit Awards recognize outstanding Longitudinal Research Project mentorship of graduating...

How Opioids Affect Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor Venlafaxine Treatment for Depression & Chronic Pain in Older Adults

Dr. Sarah Stahl

Chronic low back pain and depression are common and frequently co-occurring in late life. Yet treatment can be challenging as these conditions are risk factors for each other, and both interfere with the other’s treatment response. Opioids may be a marker of poor treatment response for both depression and pain. In addition, there is limited evidence of the efficacy of opioids for patients with chronic pain, and...