Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo, Ph.D.

Vice Provost for International Affairs | C.R. Hutcheson Professor

Human Development and Family Sciences

Phone: (806) 834-6080

Office: HS 506A

Office of International Affairs

CV

Not accepting students for Fall 2024

Research Focus

My research focus is interdisciplinary, rooted in Human Development, Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Social Work, and Cross-Cultural Studies. My scholarship focuses on the influence of individual characteristics and contextual factors on adolescence development, toxic-stress, trauma and resilience on ethnic/racial minorities and vulnerable youth using a cross-cultural/cross-national comparative lens. I use a mixed-method approach (e.g., surveys, secondary data, ethnography, case studies, interviews, focus groups) and Participatory Action Research (PAR) that seeks to build evidence-based practice for the development, extension, and improvement of prevention and intervention efforts. My research has been funded by national and international organizations including Fulbright, United States Department of State-Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs; The Administrative Department for Science, Technology & Innovation of Colombia-South America; São Paulo -Brazil Research Foundation; U.S.A Department of Education; U.S. Administration on Children, Youth, & Families among others.

I serve as an International Adjunct Professor in the Department of Social Work, College of Applied Social Sciences at State University of Ponta Grossa, Paraná-Brazil as well as in the Departments of Medicine, Biostatistics & Epidemiology and Psychology at CES University, Medellín-Colombia (South America). During the past 25+ years, I have been working closely with several local community, statewide partners, national and international collaborators (e.g., Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, India, Norway, Sweden, Spain) to support the well-being and positive development of youth.

All my graduate and undergraduate students gain "hands on" experience by participating in national and international research activities, community outreach programs, volunteering activities, and positive development programs for youth and their families. My research, teaching, and service have been shaped by diverse life experiences and by the people who have made those experiences possible. I have lived in different countries and cultures and thus, I seek to discover what lies beneath our multidimensional lives, to improve and advance the lives of underserved youth, and to serve the community and society at large.

Areas of Expertise

Positive Youth Development and Well-Being
Toxic Stress, Trauma, and Trauma-Informed Practices
Externalizing-Internalizing Behaviors
Ethnic/Racial Minorities and Immigrant Youth
Cross-Cultural and Cross-National Comparative Research
Quantitative-Qualitative Mixed Methods
Participatory Action Research (PAR)
Program Development, Implementation, and Evaluation
Fluent: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Recent Publications

Rose, J., Martin, M.J., Trejos-Castillo, E., & Mastergeorge, A. (2024). Longitudinal Pathways of Maltreated Young Children: Testing the Impact of Family Stress Processes and Adverse Childhood Experiences. Journal of Family Psychology. 38(2), 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001163

Asgarabad, M.H, Salehi Yegaei, P., Azami-Aghdash, S., Zaru, R., Hadi, N., Martin, N., Trejos-Castillo, E. (2024). A protocol study for a systematic review and meta-analysis of the psychometric properties of the five Cs model of positive youth development scales. In N. Wiium, D. Manrique-Millones, D. Miconi & D. Stefenel (Eds.), Addressing Social Justice: A Positive Youth Development Approach. (pp.21–46). Fagbokforlaget. https://doi.org/10.55669/oa311001

Zaru, R., Hadi, N., & Trejos-Castillo, E. Relationships and their impact on depression, self-esteem and looking forward to the future among multisystem youth. In Freitas, C., Pereira Andreatta E., & Pres da Costa, R. (Eds), Sistema Prisional e Socioeducativo. Federal University of Amazonas Press, Brazil.

Gomez-Baya, D., Muñoz-Parralo, M., Martin-Barrado, A.D., Trejos-Castillo, E., Gaspar de Matos, M., & Wiium, N. (2024). Socio-demographic differences in Positive Youth Development in Spanish undergraduates. Social Sciences. 13(1); https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13010011

Ataç. O., Yoruç Çotuk., M., & Trejos-Castillo, E. (2024). Positive Youth Development Approach: A Model Specific to Türkiye. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10270-0

Barrera-Valencia, M Calderon Delgado, L., Noriega, I.., Al-Khalil, K., Trejos-Castillo, E., & O´Boyle, M. (2023). Emotional processing in children with post-traumatic stress disorder: evidence from a study of functional neuroimaging (fMRI). In Erazo Santander, O.A. (Ed.), Achievements in Applied Cognitive Neuro Sciences II (pp.27-53), Santiago de Cali University Press, Colombia. DOI: 10.35985/9786287604421

Fernandes, M.A., & Trejos-Castillo, E. (2023). As Instituições E As Leis Para A Infância No Brasil Império: Circulação De Ideias Sobre O Menorismo. Educar Em Revista, V. 39, e87487, Curitiba, Brazil. DOI: http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.1590/1984-0411.87487

Galone Somer, D., Carneiro e Silva, S., Trejos-Castillo, E. (2023). As funções da Patrulha Escolar Comunitária do Estado Do Paraná: Reflexões á Luz Do Conceito de Estado Ampliado de Antonio Gramsci. In João Irineu de Resende Miranda and Dirceia Moreira (Ed.), Cadernos de Pesquisa Em Ciências Sociais Aplicadas. Produção dos Núcleos de Pesquisa. Paraná: Associação Brasileira de Editores Científicos.

Peres da Costa, R., Fernandes, M.N., & Trejos-Castillo. (2023). Repercussão Da Violência E Da Invisibilidade Social Na Privação De Liberdade De Adolescentes. In A.Volpato Craveiro & E. Palma Priotto (Eds), Violências na Atualidade: Olhares e Pespectivas, Ch. 1, pp. 23-49, Nova Praxis, Brazil. ISBN 978-65-80599-44-8.

Wiium, N., Chen, B.-B., Gomez-Baya, D., Perez-Diaz, P., Trejos-Castillo, E., Ferrer-Wreder, L. (2023). Youth, Health and Development in Diverse Cultures and Contexts. Frontiers Psychology, 14, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1247821

Salehi, P., Trejos-Castillo, E., Mastrotheodoros, S., Izanloo, B., & Habibi Asgarabad, M. (2023). Dimensions of Identity Development Scale: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Gender Invariance, and External Validity of the Persian Version. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1-16, doi.org/10.1111/jora.12860

Habibi Asgarabad, M., Salehi Yegaei, P., Trejos-Castillo, Mastrotheodoros, S., Izanloo, B. (2023). Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Gender Invariance of the Persian Version of Psychological Control Scale: Association with Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems. Frontiers Psychology. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1128264

Hadi, N., Zaru, R., Trejos-Castillo, E., & Rosales, O. (2023). Children of the Incarcerated: The Role of Parenting, School, and Social Support in Caucasian and African American Youth Outcomes. Advances in Sociology, 39, Chp 5, ISBN: 979-8-88697-196-5. Nova Publishers.

Trejos-Castillo, E., Lopoo, E.& Dwivedi, A. (2023). Humanizing Justice: Supporting Positive Development in Criminalized Youth. In J. Travis & Western, B. (Eds), Parsimony and Other Radical Ideas about Justice. The New Press, N.Y. https://thenewpress.com/books/parsimony-other-radical-ideas-about-justice

Fischer, J.L., Engler Jordan, R., Trejos-Castillo, E., & Lyness, K.P. (2023). Sibling Training Hypothesis: Alcohol Use Behaviors Among Three Adolescent Siblings, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 41(2), 200-221; DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2023.2167527

Darvishi, M., Habibi Asgarabad, M., *Elhami Athar, M., Atef Vahid, M.K., & Trejos-Castillo, E. (2022). An explanation of adolescents' delinquent behaviors based on Jessor's Problem Behavior Theory (PBT) in Iran: The role of individual vulnerability, opportunity risk availability, and perceived support. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.744794

Ramos Jaraba, S.M., Berbesí Fernández, D.Y., & Trejos-Castillo, E. (2022). Consumo de basuco en mujeres transgénero, de tres ciudades de Colombia (Basuco consumption in transgender women in three cities in Colombia-South America). Revista Addiciones (Spain). DOI: 10.20882/adicciones.1617

BOOKS

Trejos-Castillo, E. (Ed.), Trevino-Schafer, N. (Ed.). (2018). Handbook of Foster Youth. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Trejos-Castillo, E. (Ed.) (2013). Youth: Practices, Perspectives and Challenges. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY.