Essay On Risk Factors And Protective Factors

The most common risk factors and protective factors can be divided into six areas: social or behavior problems, academic problems, child maltreatment, physical injuries, drug use, and physical health problems (sexuality, pregnancy, etc.). They can also be split into different categories according to the level of influence: individual and family are the first level, peer and school or work are in the second level and the third level includes social structures and others. A risk factor can be seen as the bad influence of the social environment on an individual and they are associated with increased risk of irregularities, disorders, diseases or premature death. Some risks are correlates, meaning they coexist with the abnormal behaviour, disorder or disease, others are called predicates, which mean that the influence preceded the occurrence of the problems. Based on knowledge of risk factors, unwanted phenomena, such as problem behaviours of young people, can be predicted, but risk factors are not causal in the strict sense of the word. The emergence of risk factors does not inevitably lead to negative consequences, but clearly increases the risk of them occurring.

Research shows that smoking during pregnancy can have devastating effects on the development of a child's behavioural disorder. Children with smoking parents have a much higher chance to become a smoker themselves. The damage dealt by a risk factor is different for everyone. A “difficult temperament” can significantly increase the risk of developing abnormal behaviour in later stages of the child’s life. A difficult temperament is often associated with impulsivity, negative emotion, aggressiveness, tendency to demonstrate anger, higher than average activity and agitation and calming