Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Motivational Interviewing to Enhance Behavioral Change in Older Adults with Hoarding Disorder

Award Number: R15MH127565
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/01/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2026

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Motivational Interviewing to Enhance Behavioral Change in Older Adults with Hoarding Disorder - Project Summary Hoarding disorder is a psychological condition with a unique constellation of consequences for older adults, including increased risk of fire and dying in a fire, insect infestation, and medical problems. Dangers related to cluttered living spaces are exacerbated by reduced executive functioning, attention, and concentration. Hoarding psychopathology results from maladaptive cognitions (e.g., desire to keep items others would discard) and maladaptive behavioral patterns (e.g., avoidance of sorting/discarding items). Extant treatments for hoarding have targeted fear reduction as the mechanism of change, either through cognitive-behavioral therapy focusing on cognitive restructuring or behavior therapy focusing on exposure therapy. Older adults have a lackluster response to cognitive restructuring for hoarding, and, although exposure therapy increases treatment response, both approaches require a lengthy six-month dose. Our preliminary work suggests that fear reduction may not be a universally relevant target mechanism for older adults, and that to be responsive to the specific needs of older adults, we need to identify other mechanisms. Motivational interviewing is a technique that is already typically incorporated into hoarding treatment and has been demonstrated to increase motivation for behavioral change across a range of health conditions for older adults, including physical activity, diet, and disease management. Because sorting/discarding is at its core a health behavior that hoarding patients lack the motivation to engage in, motivational interviewing is likely to decrease hoarding severity by eliciting increased levels of sorting/discarding. The proposed project will use a mechanistic clinical trials approach to determine if a four-month intervention combining motivational interviewing with sorting practice can engage the proposed target, motivation for behavioral change, when compared to a four-month dose of sorting practice alone in a sample of rural-dwelling older adults. Rural-dwelling older adults with hoarding disorder represent a particularly difficult to treat population, as they are less likely to experience external motivating factors to seek treatment (e.g., complaints from neighbors/municipal officials). This project would represent the first step in a broader course of research to investigate efficacious treatment targets for late life hoarding. The long-term goal of this research is to determine if conceptualizing the psychopathology of hoarding as a deficit in a health behavior can inform our development and implementation of evidence-based treatment for geriatric hoarding across contexts.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = -$2,950 )
2026	2022	MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY	245 BARR AVE	MISSISSIPPI STATE	MS	39762	OKTIBBEHA	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	3/25/2026	NEW	-$2,950
														Subtotal = -$2,950

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2025	2022	MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY	245 BARR AVE	MISSISSIPPI STATE	MS	39762	OKTIBBEHA	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	12/11/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2022	MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY	245 BARR AVE	MISSISSIPPI STATE	MS	39762	OKTIBBEHA	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	1/31/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2023	2022	MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY	245 BARR AVE MCARTHUR HALL	MISSISSIPPI STATE	MS	39762	OKTIBBEHA	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	2/23/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $427,415 )
2022	2022	MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY	245 BARR AVE MCARTHUR HALL	MISSISSIPPI STATE	MS	39762	OKTIBBEHA	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	1/31/2022	NEW	$427,415
														Subtotal = $427,415

Grand Total All Awards = $424,465

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Motivational Interviewing to Enhance Behavioral Change in Older Adults with Hoarding Disorder

Award Number: R15MH127565

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/01/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2026

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer