Transcript Document

Overview of Risk and
Protective Factors
A Four-Pronged Approach to
Evidence-Based Practice in School
• Decrease stress/risk factors
• Increase protective factors
• Train in core skills
• Implement manualized interventions
Mental Health
• Decrease stress/risk factors
• Increase protective factors
• Train in core skills
• Implement manualized interventions
Paradigm Shift…
• Providers and programs are being encouraged to
focus more on fostering resiliency and less on
identifying pathology
• Resilient individuals are more likely to be able to
withstand stress and avoid negative outcomes
What are risk and protective
factors?
• Risk/stress factor: A condition that increases the
probability of a disorder (e.g., abuse, neglect,
violence exposure, poor health care).
• Protective factor: A condition that inhibits,
reduces, or buffers the probability of a disorder
(e.g., parental monitoring, problem-solving skills,
school connectedness).
• Risk and protective factors encompass
psychological, behavioral, family, and social
characteristics.
• Children and adolescents under excessive stress
with few protective factors are most at risk for
emotional, behavioral, and other problems, while
children and adolescents with relatively low stress
and many protective factors are least at risk for
problems.
• A number of risk/stress and protective factors have
been shown to correlate with child mental health
and well-being, and have been documented as
areas to focus interventions with youth in order to
promote their mental health.
“Could someone help me with these?
I’m late for math class.”
Adolescent Health Study (1997)
• Dr Michael Resnick, Adolescent Health Program,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
• Initial sample: 91,000 adolescents (7th – 12th
graders)  Followed 20,000 over one year
• Goal: Understand the determinants of health and
risk behavior among American youth (Individual,
Family, School, and Community)
Adolescent Health Study:
Protective Factors
• Connectedness with Family/Parents
– “Perceived Availability” – emotional availability of parents
• Connectedness with School
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Fairness of teachers
Caring teachers
Sense of belongingness
Academic Success
• Note: Size of school, private/public/religious, student:teacher
ratio  did not predict outcomes
Outcomes
• Less likely to:
– Use cigarettes
– Use alcohol
– Use marijuana
– Initiate sex early
– Attempt suicide
Adolescent Health Study:
Risk Factors
• Access to guns in the home  suicidality, involvement in
interpersonal violence
• Access to tobacco, alcohol, illicit substances  More likely
to use
• Repeating a grade in school  engagement in risky
behaviors, greater distress
• Working > 20 hours/week  More likely to use cigarettes,
more distressed, more likely to get involved with kids
engaging in risky behaviors
The Asset Approach
• Search Institute, non-profit organization
• Since 1989, research on developmental assets that promote healthy
behavior in youth
• Current framework: 40 developmental assets
• Based on research with 217,000 sixth to twelfth graders in 318
communities: consistent relationship between the number of assets
present in young people’s lives and the degree to which they develop
in positive and healthful ways
Assets
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Receive Support
Neighbors Encourage
Feel Safe
Adult Positive Models
Feel Valued
Family has Standards
Parents feel that the
school helps
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Want to do well
Read for Pleasure
Stand up for Beliefs
Accept Responsibility
Resist Peer Pressure
Optimistic
Life has Purpose
Assets – Protective Functions
Source: The Asset Approach: Giving Kids What They Need to
Succeed (Search Institute, 1997)
70
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60
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40
10 or less
30 or more
30
20
10
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Problem
Alcohol Use
Illicit Drug
Use
Sexual
Activity
Violence
How Many Assets are Needed?
• While there is no “magic number” of assets, 31 is a
good benchmark for experiencing their positive
effects most strongly
• The average young person surveyed in the United
States experiences only 19.3 of the 40 assets.
• Overall, 56% of young people surveyed have fewer
than 20 of the 40 assets.
Social Development Model
• Social Development Research Group, University of
Washington
– J. David Hawkins, Director,
– Richard Catalano, Associate Director
• Risk and Protective Factors associated with health
and risk behaviors in youth
Social Development Model
• Two key protective factors:
– bonding to prosocial family, school and peers
– clear standards or norms for behavior
• Three processes that promote these protective factors:
– opportunities for involvement in productive prosocial roles
– skills to be successfully involved in these roles
– consistent systems of recognition and reinforcement for prosocial
involvement
• Buffer against: conduct problems, school misbehavior,
truancy, and drug abuse
Individual Protective Factors
• being easy to get along with
• having good social skills
• feeling empathy
• having a positive and optimistic outlook
• taking responsibility for his/her actions
• having a sense of personal identity
Individual Protective Factors
• having a strong sense of what is right and wrong
• having defined goals for the future
• believing in one’s self
• asking for help
• having good problem-solving skills
• being proactive
Family, School, Community
Protective Factors
• caring relationships with adults who support the
students and model healthy behavior
• family cohesion
• positive and high expectations that the student will
succeed
• opportunities for meaningful participation in
relevant, engaging activities
Individual Risk Factors
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Impulsivity
Aggressive/violent behavior
Disregard for others
Sensation seeking
Language problems
Poor interpersonal boundaries
Affiliates with anti-social youth
Disconnected from school
Hopelessness
Individual Risk Factors
Negative self-concept/Low self-esteem
Prenatal exposure to drugs/alcohol
Low birth weight
Poor/irregular attachment
Unsatisfactory relationships
Biological risk factors (head injury, infection,
nutrition, exposure to toxins)
• Acute health condition
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Individual Risk Factors
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Low intelligence
Attention deficits
Apathy or emotional blunting
Emotional immaturity
Poor scholastic work skills
Delinquency
Substance abuse
Stressful life events
Family Risk Factors
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Family history of mental illness
Parental crime/incarceration
Familial abuse/neglect
Familial substance abuse
Lack of parental support
Family isolation
Large family size
Death of a caregiver
Physical/mental illness of a loved one
School/Community Risk Factors
• Underachieving schools
• Peer rejection/isolation
• Poverty
• Limited access to health/mental health care
• Poor community resources
• Neighborhood crime and violence
• Few recreational outlets
• Social discrimination
• Overcrowding
• Exposure to trauma/violence
This is Your Lifeline!