Matthew K. Nock
· Edgar Pierce Professor of PsychologyHarvard University · Human Development and Psychology
Active 1976–2026
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About
Professor Matthew K. Nock leads the Nock Lab, which focuses on research related to understanding suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The lab's work has been recognized in prominent media such as the New York Times and includes innovative studies using daily smartphone assessments to track how suicidal thoughts change over time. Additionally, the lab has conducted research describing the pathways through which individuals progress from suicidal ideation to engaging in suicidal behavior. Professor Nock's research has garnered significant attention, including a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, and he actively mentors graduate students, with potential openings for PhD admissions. His work is situated within Harvard's clinical psychology program, which now requires GRE scores for admission consideration.
Research topics
- Psychology
- Medicine
- Political Science
- Computer Science
- Psychiatry
- Applied psychology
- Medical emergency
- Public relations
- Cognitive psychology
- Clinical psychology
Selected publications
American Psychologist · 2020 · 714 citations
COVID-19 presents significant social, economic, and medical challenges. Because COVID-19 has already begun to precipitate huge increases in mental health problems, clinical psychological science must assert a leadership role in guiding a national response to this secondary crisis. In this article, COVID-19 is conceptualized as a unique, compounding, multidimensional stressor that will create a vast need for intervention and necessitate new paradigms for mental health service delivery and trainin…
Advancing the Understanding of Suicide: The Need for Formal Theory and Rigorous Descriptive Research
Trends in Cognitive Sciences · 2020 · 142 citations
Senior authorCorresponding2020 · 97 citations
COVID-19 presents significant social, economic, and medical challenges. Because COVID-19 has already begun to precipitate huge increases in mental health problems, clinical psychological science must assert a leadership role in guiding a national response to this secondary crisis. In this paper, COVID-19 is conceptualized as a unique, compounding, multi-dimensional stressor that will create a vast need for intervention and necessitate new paradigms for mental health service delivery and training…
JAMA Network Open · 2021 · 93 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingImportance: The weeks following discharge from psychiatric hospitalization are the highest-risk period for suicide attempts. Real-time monitoring of suicidal thoughts via smartphone prompts may be more indicative of short-term risk than a single, cross-sectional assessment. Objective: To test whether modeling dynamic changes in real-time suicidal thoughts during psychiatric hospitalization can improve predictions of postdischarge suicide attempts vs using only baseline (ie, admission) data or us…
Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice · 2020 · 85 citations
1st authorCorrespondingOBJECTIVE: Digital monitoring technologies (e.g., smart-phones and wearable devices) provide unprecedented opportunities to study potentially harmful behaviors such as suicide, violence, and alcohol/substance use in real-time. The use of these new technologies has the potential to significantly advance the understanding, prediction, and prevention of these behaviors. However, such technologies also introduce myriad ethical and safety concerns, such as deciding when and how to intervene if a part…
Recent grants
NIH · $1.4M · 2011
NIH · $4.6M · 2015–2021
Intensive longitudinal study of suicidal behaviors and related health outcomes
NIH · $4.3M · 2022–2024
Frequent coauthors
- 308 shared
Ronald C. Kessler
- 219 shared
Murray B. Stein
VA San Diego Healthcare System
- 214 shared
Alexander J. Millner
Harvard University
- 210 shared
Robert J. Ursano
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- 178 shared
Nancy A. Sampson
Harvard University
- 142 shared
Evan M. Kleiman
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- 125 shared
James A. Naifeh
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- 117 shared
Alan M. Zaslavsky
Harvard University
Education
- 2002
Ph.D., Psychology
Harvard University
- 1999
M.A., Psychology
Harvard University
- 1996
B.A., Psychology
Harvard University
Awards & honors
- Early career awards from the American Psychological Associat…
- Early career awards from the Association for Behavioral and…
- Early career awards from the American Association of Suicido…
- MacArthur “Genius” Award (2011)
- Roslyn Abramson Teaching Award
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