Understanding risk and protective factors enables the development of both universal and targeted approaches to reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect. Developing Responsible and Autonomous Learners: A Key to Motivating Students. While risk and protective factors have been presented in different ways, the table below provides examples of risk and protective factors adapted from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. This paper examines the concept of resilience in the context of children affected by armed conflict and presents key studies in the literature that address the interplay between risk and protective processes in the mental health of war-affected children from an ecological, developmental perspective. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 159- 174. Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. Education and Training in Mental Retardation, 25, 315- 324.
Clinical Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment. Children of the Great Depression: Social change in life experiences. Does supplementary prenatal nursing and home visitation support improve resource use in a universal health care system? Remember, personality and genetics play a role too. The development of resilience is none other than the process of healthy human development — a dynamic process in which personality and environmental influences interact in a reciprocal, transactional relationship. Understanding the ecology of child maltreatment: A review of the literature and directions for future research.
Approximately 50%—60% of children exposed to intimate partner violence have behavioral problems in the clinical range on measures of child adjustment. Changing the status quo in our society means changing paradigms, both personally and professionally, from risk to resilience, from control to participation, from problem-solving to positive development, from Eurocentrism to multi-culturalism, from seeing youth as problems to seeing them as resources, from institution-building to community-building, and so on. Thus, as Waddel et al. This is precisely because they address our common, shared humanity. Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disorder. New York : Teachers College Press. Therefore, abstinence is the best prevention.
What are some important early childhood risk factors for later drug use? Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64- 105. Prevention of Mental Disorders: Effective Interventions and Policy Options. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. We may have experience trauma early in life and never fully recovered. The factors found in the research that may reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect are outlined in , using the developmental-ecological model. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 16, 107- 121.
Reasons for increased substance use in psychosis. Community level protective factors are identified as resources such as school programs that address violence or the availability of daycare. Includes implications for screening for protective factors and trauma responses of all adolescents. Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education. At either age 3 or 5, 21.
Child maltreatment occurs in a minority of families, and most people, even those experiencing many risk factors, do not abuse or neglect their children. Reflections and commentary on risk, resilience, and development. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 153, 226—234. Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of premature mortality. Influence of conduct problems and depressive symptomatology on adolescent substance use: developmentally proximal versus distal effects.
Our health maintenance behaviors include going to the doctor for regular check ups, brushing our teeth, eating whole foods in healthy portions, and getting regular exercise. Individual protective factors take the form of characteristics such as older age, sociability, or physical attractiveness. The Cost of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Canada: A Report to the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Childhood Aggression and Exposure to Violence in the Home. External factors important in building a context for healthy development across childhood Masten, 2004; Masten, 2001 include parenting that includes warmth, consistency, age-appropriate expectations, praise for accomplishments e. Youth with highest levels of risk factors exhibited increased prevalence rates of problem behaviors, even when they had high levels of protective factors Pollard et al. Chart is adapted from Masten, A.
Background Mental disorders in childhood have a considerable health and societal impact but the associated negative consequences may be ameliorated through early identification of risk and protective factors that can guide health promoting and preventive interventions. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 23-30. Not only does this prevent the burn-out of practitioners working with seriously troubled youth but it provides one of the major protective factors — positive expectations — that when internalized by youth motivate and enable them to overcome risks and adversity. A prominent boat rocker rejoins the fray. Poor family functioning can increase the risk for multiple problem behaviors in children and adolescents, including risk for substance use and abuse Aarons et al, 2008. Protecting adolescents from harm: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health.
Risk Factors Risk factors are characteristics of a person or his or her environment that increase the likelihood that he or she will die by suicide i. Such interventions nurture appropriate expectations of infants by parents, strengthen positive parenting practices, and help parents to cope with frustrating situations. Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate factors that may reduce or ameliorate, as well as contribute to, the negative impact of interpersonal violence on children. The interviews and assessments took place either at their place of residence or at social work offices. The contents of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments Web site were assembled under contracts from the U.
Past war trauma events were assessed using the Harvard trauma questionnaire, which covers 17 types of maltreatment and traumatic events. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2005. Just as with protective factors, elements of risk may exist at each level of the system in which the individual functions, from individual features e. Early problems with attachment can lead to problems like acting out in school, poor academic achievement, and social isolation during the transition to elementary school Fearon et al. Although most of these periods are believed to occur in childhood, recent research suggests that we have sensitive periods throughout our lives. It is possible to be resilience even if you have fallen victim to the risk factors in your life and have experienced poor outcomes for a time.