Publications

Published

  • Van Den Boom, W, Placencio-Castro, M., Menart, R., Mac-Boima, E., Bayoh A., Hansen, N. & Betancourt, T. (In Press). Four-Year Follow Up of a Youth Group Mental Health Intervention Integrated into Entrepreneurship Programs in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
  • Jensen, S. K., Placencio-Castro, M., Brennan, R., Nsabimana, J. A., Sezibera, V., & Betancourt, T. (2026). Mechanisms of change underlying effects of the Sugira Muryango parenting intervention on child development in Rwanda. Children. https://doi.org/10.3390/children13030344
  • Ahishakiye, A., Dal Santo, L., Smith-Fawzi, M., Miller, A., Placencio-Castro, M., Gilbert, H., Jensen, S., Wilson, K., Kirk, C., Sezibera, S., & Betancourt, T. (2026). Risk and Protective Factors of Depression Among Caregivers of Children with Disabilities in Rural Rwanda. BMJ Global Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2025-020491
  • Jensen, S., Placencio-Castro, M., Murray, S., Littman, J., Sezibera, V., & Betancourt, T. (2025). Long-term sustainment of the effects of early childhood intervention. BMJ Global Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-017866
  • Bond, L., Placencio-Castro, M., Byansi, W., Puffer, E., & Betancourt, T. (2025). Factors Associated with Nonspecialist Quality of Delivery. Prevention Science. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-025-01768-0
  • Black, C., Placencio-Castro, M., Phend, G., Havugimana, J., Umulisa, G., Jensen, S., Rawlings, L., Sezibera, V., & Betancourt T. (2025). Scaling Up Home-Visiting to Promote Early Childhood Development. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14160
  • Jung, E., Black, C., Placencio-Castro, M., Chamlagai, L., Osman, R., Hoffman, M., Beardslee, W., Betancourt, T. (2025). Delivering a family‐based child mental health promotion program among two resettled refugee communities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70021
  • Frounfelker, F., Dilts, C., Matias Placencio-Castro, Sharifi, F., Arwal, S., & Betancourt, T. (2025). Mental Health Assessments for Resettled Afghan Youth. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-025-02536-0
  • Desrosiers, A., Noon, K., Placencio-Castro, M., Hansen, N., Moiga, M., & Betancourt, T. (2025). Can an evidence-based mental health intervention indirectly benefit caregivers and peers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060844
  • Bowser, D., Ruscitti, B., Noon, K., Placencio-Castro, M., Freeman, J., & Betancourt, T. (2025). Return-on-Investment of a mental health intervention for war-affected youth in Sierra Leone. Global Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2025.10069
  • Freeman, J., Farrar, J., Placencio-Castro, M., Desrosiers, A., Brennan, R., Feika, M., Jambia, M., Hansen, N., Akinsulure-Smith, A., Su, S., Bangura, J., & Betancourt, T. (2024). Effectiveness of Integrating a Transdiagnostic Group Mental Health Intervention. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2023.09.552
  • Desmond, C., Grace Watt, K., Jensen, S. K., Simmons, E., Murray, S. M., Farrar, J., Placencio-Castro, M., Sezibera, V., Rawlings, L., Wilson, B., Betancourt, T. (2023). Measuring the cost-effectiveness of a home-visiting intervention. PLOS Global Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002473
  • Jensen, S. K., Murray, S., Placencio-Castro, M., Kajani, U., Amponsah, D., Sezibera, V., & Betancourt, T. (2023). Family Violence Reduction Within a Parenting Intervention in Rwanda. Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-060221L
  • McKay, E., Placencio-Castro, M., Kelly-Weeder, S., & Fontenot, H. (2023). Development and psychometric testing of a scale to measure sexual minority-inclusivity in sex education. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-023-00794-3
  • Mendive, S., Placencio-Castro, M., Strasser, K., Dominguez, P., Pozo, F., & Kucirkova, N. (2023). Impacts of a Personalized Book Giveaway Intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.12.008
  • McKay, E. A., Placencio-Castro, M., Fu, M., & Fontenot, H. (2021). Associations between Sex Education Types and Sexual Behaviors Among Female Adolescents. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00664-w
  • Maru, M., Rogers, E. S., Nicolellis, D., Legere, L., Placencio-Castro, M., Magee, C., Harbaugh, A. (2021). Vocational Peer Support for Adults with Psychiatric Disabilities. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000484
  • Jensen, S., Placencio-Castro, M., Murray, S., Brennan, R., Yousafzai, A., Farrar, J., Godfroid, K., Bazubagira, S., Rawlings, L., Wilson, B., Sezibera, V., Kamurase, A., & Betancourt, T. (2021). Promoting parent-child relationships and preventing violence via home-visiting. BMJ Global Health. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003508
  • Ludlow, L., Placencio-Castro, M., & Scanlan, M. (2020). Characterizing change within a two-way immersion network. The International Journal of Diversity in Education. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0020/CGP/v20i01/11-34
  • Scanlan, M., Melley, K., Placencio-Castro, M., & Ludlow, L. (2019). Transforming Communities of Practice Through Networks. Harvard University Press. Link

Under Review / Working Papers

  • Placencio-Castro, M., Desrosiers A., Jensen, S. K. & Betancourt, T. (In Preparation). Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the DERS-18 Scale in Rwanda: A Validation Study, Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.
  • Placencio-Castro, M., Jensen, S. K., Stroiman, A. & Betancourt, T. (In Preparation). Validation of the Infant/Toddler HOME Inventory in Rwanda: Dimensionality, Item Calibration, and Differential Item Functioning, Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
  • Al-Rousan, T., Placencio-Castro, M., Dilts, C., Ahmadi, N., Ahmadi, H., Hamdard, W., Amescua, C., Sharifi, F., Hasib-Arwal, S. & Betancourt, T. (Under Review). Validation of a mental health assessment tool for resettled Afghan children: Internal Consistency, Item Calibration and Differential Item Functioning, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
  • Bowser, D., Ruscitti, B., Placencio-Castro, M., Desmond, C., & Betancourt, T. (Under Review). Return on investment of a home-visiting intervention to promote early child development in Rwanda, Children and Society.
  • Jensen, S. K., Placencio-Castro, M., Littman, J., Murray, S., Sezibera, V., & Betancourt, T. (Under Review). Spillover effects of early parenting intervention: effects on younger and older siblings, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
  • Bond, L., Placencio-Castro, M., Byansi, W., Puffer, E., & Betancourt, T. (Under Review). Association of Quality of Delivery and Intervention Outcomes within a Home-Visiting Intervention. Social Science and Medicine.