In Recognition of World Mental Health Day

“The Mental Health of Children Affected by Armed Conflict: A Call to Action”

October 12, 2023 | 12:30 – 1:30 PM

Hybrid Lecture: J. Ray Ryan Blg., Room 204, Storrs Campus

Theresa S. Betancourt is the inaugural Salem Professor in Global Practice at the Boston College School of Social Work and Director of the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA). Her primary research interest is to understand the protective processes that contribute to risk and resilience in the mental health and development of children and adolescents facing adversity in a variety of cultures and settings. Dr. Betancourt has led initiatives to adapt and test evidence-based behavioral and parenting interventions for children and families facing adversity; she additionally focuses on strategies for scaling out these interventions using implementation science approaches. She is Principal Investigator of an intergenerational study of war/prospective longitudinal study of war-affected youth in Sierra Leone, a scale-up Family-Strengthening Intervention for children and families in Rwanda, and community-based participatory research on prevention of emotional and behavioral problems in refugee children and adolescents resettled in the U.S.