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Rani Hoff, MPH, PhD

she/her/hers
Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Northeast Program Evaluation Center; Director, Evaluation Division, National Center for PTSD

Contact Information

Rani Hoff, MPH, PhD

Office Location

  • 100 West Campus Drive, Wing Building 200, Fl 3, Ste NEPEC S182
    Orange, CT 06477

Mailing Address

  • Professors

    Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC)/182, VA CT Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave.

    West Haven, CT 06546

    United States

Research Summary

Dr. Hoff’s research utilizes principles of psychiatric epidemiology, services research, quality improvement, program evaluation research, and implementation science to examine risk factors and correlates of psychiatric disorders and suicide behaviors, with particular attention paid to co-occurring disorders and vulnerable populations; mental health service provision in both VA and non-VA settings, including the contribution of community and background environmental factors in the quality of care and clinical outcomes; and the epidemiology of behavioral addictions. This research has included studies on pathological gambling, schizophrenia, substance abuse/dependence, the risk of suicide in psychiatric patients, trauma and comorbidity, criminal justice mental health, and the mental health problems experienced by the homeless and by returning Veterans from the Middle East. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Survey of the Experiences of Returning Veterans (SERV) a large VA-funded study of the gender differences in coping behaviors of Veterans returning from military service; the Veterans Outcomes Assessment, an annual nationally representative sample of 10,000 VA mental health patients with clinical outcomes measures after the first three months of treatment; and the Veteran Satisfaction Survey, an annual sample of those receiving VA mental health services that assesses access and perceived quality of services.

Extensive Research Description

  • Health correlates of compulsive video game playing, shopping, and stealing among high school students in CT
  • Associations between gambling behaviors and other health and risk behaviors in adolescents
  • Gender differences in the association between deployment experiences and substance use and abuse in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (SERV Study)
    • Use of CAM services in the treatment of PTSD
    • Pain as a mediator of the association between childhood abuse and onset of major depression in adults
    • Predictors of the use of residential treatment services in VA
    • Differential mortality in Veterans with and without mental illness
    • Surgical outcomes in Veterans with and without mental illness
    • Cardiac outcomes in Veterans with and without mental illness
    • Gender differences in the correlates of cutting behavior in adolescents

Coauthors

Research Interests

Ill-Housed Persons; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders; Prisoners; Veterans; Women; Mood Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Vulnerable Populations

Selected Publications