Rochelle Frounfelker, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

Biography

Dr. Rochelle Frounfelker is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and works with Dr. Cecile Rousseau in her program of research on violent radicalization. She has a doctorate in social epidemiology from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Frounfelker’s work in violent radicalization includes examining risk and protective factors for sympathy for violent radicalization in transnational samples of youth and young adults, with a focus on understanding the dynamics between discrimination, mental health, and sympathy for violent action. She is also engaged in the evaluation of a clinical intervention model to address violent radicalization. Dr. Frounfelker is interested in framing and addressing violent radicalization as a public health issue, with special attention on primary prevention initiatives that target opinions and attitudes towards violent radicalization in the general population.

Education

• 2012–2017: Sc.D., Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard University
• 1999–2002: MPH, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
• 1999–2002: MSSW, Columbia School of Social Work (Clinical Practice)
• 1991–1996: B.A., History (Summa cum laude), University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

Courses taught

• 2018–2020: “Pathways of Risk and Resilience: Social Epidemiology and the Mental Health of War-Affected Populations” Psychosocial Issues of Disease, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University
• 2018: “Global/Local Connections: Mental Health of Refugee Communities” Global Mental Health Research, Summer Program in Social and Cultural Psychiatry, McGill University
• 2017: “Mixed Methods and Community Based Participatory Action Research” Mixed Methods in Global Health Delivery Research, Harvard Medical School
• 2017: “‘We would never forget who we are’: A Case Study of Qualitative Data Analysis” Qualitative Research Methods for Global Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• 2016–2017: “Qualitative Methods, Cross-Cultural Mental Health, and Intervention Research.” Program Monitoring and Evaluation Methods for Use in Field Settings, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• 2016: “Qualitative Methods, Cross-Cultural Mental Health, and Intervention Research.” Large Scale Effectiveness Evaluations, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• 2015–2016: “Mixed Methods, Cross-Cultural Mental Health, and Intervention Research.” Mixed Methods in Global Health Delivery Research, Harvard Medical School

Publications

Ellis, H.B., Miller, A.B., Sideridis, G., Frounfelker, R.L., Miconi, D. Abdi, S., Aw-Osman, F. & Rousseau, C. (2021). Risk and protective factors associated with support of violent radicalization: Variations by geographic location. International Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.617053

Miconi, D., Li., Z.Y., Frounfelker, R.L., Venkatesh, V. & Rousseau, C. (2021). Sociocultural correlates of self-reported experiences of discrimination related to COVID-19 in a culturally diverse sample of Canadian adults. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.01.013

Miconi, D., Li, Z.Y., Frounfelker, R.L., Santavicca, T., Cenat, J.M. & Rousseau, C. (2021). Ethnocultural disparities in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study on the impact of exposure to the virus and COVID-related discrimination and stigma on mental health across ethno-cultural groups in Quebec (Canada). BJPsych Open, 7(1), https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2020.146

Assefa, M., Frounfelker, R.L., Tahir, S., Berent, J. Abdirahman, A., & Betancourt, T.S. (2021). Traditional medicine and help-seeking behaviors for health problems among Somali Bantu refugees resettled in the United States. Qualitative Health Research, 31(3), 484-497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320970492

Miconi, D., Frounfelker, R.L., Zoldan, Y., & Rousseau, C. (2021). Rethinking radicalization leading to violence as a global health issue. In Okpaku, S. (Ed.), Innovations in Global Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70134-9_125-1

Frounfelker, R.L. Mishra, T., Gautam, B., Berent, J.M., Abdirahman, A. & Betancourt, T.S. (2020). Engaging refugee families in interventions to promote child mental health and family functioning. In Song, S. & Ventevogel, P. (Eds.) Child, Adolescent and Family Refugee Mental Health: A Global Perspective. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45278-0_16

Su, S., Frounfelker, R.L., Desrosiers, A., Brennan, R., Farrar, J. & Betancourt, T.S. (2020). Childhood war trauma exposure: Latent profile analysis of Sierra Leone’s former child soldiers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13312

Frounfelker, R.L. Mishra, T., Dhesi, S., Gautam, B., Adhikari, N. & Betancourt, T.S. (2020). “We are all under the same roof”: Coping and meaning making among older Bhutanese with a refugee life experience. Social Science and Medicine, 264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113311

Frounfelker, R.L., Islam, N., Falcone, J., Farrar, J., Ra, C., Antonaccio, C., Enelamah, N. & Betancourt, T.S. (2020). Living through war: Mental health of children and youth in conflict-affected areas. International Review of the Red Cross,101(911), 481-506. https://doi.org/10.1017/S181638312000017X

Rousseau, C., Miconi, D., Frounfelker, R.L., Hassan, G., & Oulhote, Y. (2020). A repeated cross-sectional study of sympathy for violent radicalization in Canadian college students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 90(4), 406-418. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000444