Risk Factors

Risk factors are those elements in a young person's environment that increase the likelihood of engaging in negative and antisocial behaviors.

The following is just a sample of these risk factors:

• Community risk factors include transitions and mobility, community laws and norms favorable to drug use, firearms and crime, availability of drugs and firearms.

• Family risk factors include poor family management and family conflict.

• School risk factors include academic failure, lack of commitment to school, and school disorganization.

• Individual/peer-group risk factors include early initiation of problem behavior, friends who engage in problem behaviors, and favorable attitudes toward problem behaviors.

Protective Factors

Protective factors are those factors that serve as a buffer between young people and the development of health and behavior problems.

Examples of key protective factors include:

• Individual characteristics, such as intelligence, resilience, and social competence.

• Bonding to family, peers, school, and neighborhood/community.

• Healthy beliefs and clear standards, communicated to young people through their families, schools, communities, and peer groups.

From: Channing Bete Company and Developmental Research and Programs. Available online at http://www.drp.org/prev_sci/prev_sci.html#risk factors

For more information on risk factors, see Figure 4.9, Substance Use and Violence Prevention Indicators as they Relate to Risk Factors in Chapter 4 of the MSC Training Manual.