Department of Human Services | Risk and Protective Factors

Department of Human Services Risk and Protective Factors: "Risk factors include those individual or social factors associated with an increased likelihood of a negative outcome. Risk Factors can be related to biological, behavioral, and social/environmental characteristics. They include characteristics such as family history, depression or residence in neighborhoods where substance abuse is tolerated. Research supports the idea that the more factors that place the child at risk for substance abuse, the more likely it is she or he will experience substance use."