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 research focuses on the protective processes that shape risk and resilience in the mental health and development of children and adolescents facing adversity across different cultures and settings. She has led efforts to adapt and test evidence-based behavioral and parenting interventions for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS, poverty, and armed conflict, and has expanded this work into implementation science initiatives to scale evidence-based interventions in low-resource settings in the United States and globally.

Dr. Betancourt is the principal investigator of a 24-year intergenerational study of former child soldiers and other war-affected youth and their families in post-conflict Sierra Leone (ISWAY). This research led to the development of the Youth Readiness Intervention (YRI), a group mental health intervention that draws on cognitive behavioral therapy, group interpersonal therapy, and mindfulness-based practices. The YRI has demonstrated effectiveness in improving emotion regulation, daily functioning, and school functioning among youth in post-conflict Sierra Leone, as well as reducing anxiety and depression and promoting labor market returns among youth in entrepreneurship programs. Her work has been published in Child Development, JAMA Psychiatry, the American Journal of Public Health, and other leading journals, and has been covered by CNN, NPR, The New Yorker, and the BBC, among others. Her book Shadows Into Light: A Generation of Child Soldiers Comes of Age was published by Harvard University Press in 2025.