Risk Factors

Risk-focused prevention is based on identifying the factors which increase the risk of that problem developing and then finding ways to reduce the risks.

David Hawkins, Ph.D., Richard Catalano, Ph.D., and other researchers at the University of Washington have reviewed thirty plus years of research into the effectiveness of programs intended to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse. They have also conducted their own studies. Their findings (Catalano, 1996) document that the best outcomes are achieved by programs which:

• Focus on reducing known risk factors
  

• Focus on increasing known protective factors
  

• Address risk factors at appropriate developmental stages
  

• Intervene early before the behavior stabilizes
  

• Target individuals and communities at greatest risk
  

• Address multi-risk issues with multiple strategies
  

• Addresses cultural and ethnic factors

Risk factors fall into four categories: community, family, school, and individual/peer. David Hawkins and Richard Catalano offer this breakdown of key risk factors and the problem behaviors they predict in "Risk and Protective Factor Prevention."

"Research confirms that parents are influential if they speak forcefully and consistently to the fact that drugs of all types are illegal, harmful and not acceptable. Research shows that for eighth graders who said their parents believed that marijuana is 'very wrong' only 9 percent used the drug. But those who thought that parents believed marijuana use wasn't wrong, 75 percent reported using it." (Marijuana use more dangerous now than it was 30 years ago, Klickitat Co. Sentinel, September 28, 2000)

"‘We find the more risk factors the worse the outcome,’ says Sameroff (Arnold Sameroff, a developmental psychologist at Brown University’s Bradley Hospital). ‘With eight or nine, nobody does well. For the majority of these children, it’s going to involve changing the whole circumstance in which they are raised.'" (The Miracle of Resiliency, Newsweek Special Edition, Summer 1991)

Highlights from:  Risk and Protective Factor Prevention by Hawkins and Catalano

"In schools where children just think that drugs are more available, a higher rate of drug use occurs."

"The more often people in a community move, the greater the risk of both criminal behavior and drug-related problems in families."

"Higher rates of drug problems, juvenile delinquency, and violence occur in communities or neighborhoods where people have little attachment to the community..."

"Perhaps the most significant issue affecting community attachment is whether residents feel they can make a difference in their lives."

"If children are raised in a family with a history of addiction to alcohol or other drugs, the risk of having alcohol and other drug problems themselves increases."

"Poor family management practices include lack of clear expectations for behavior, failure of parents to monitor their children (knowing where they are and who they are with, and excessively severe or inconsistent punishment."

"Whether the family is headed by two biological parents, a single parent, or some other primary caregiver, children raised in families high in conflict appear to be at risk for all of the problem behaviors."

"Parental approval of young people’s moderate drinking, even under parental supervision, increases the risk of the young person using marijuana."

"...in families where parents involve children in their own drug or alcohol behavior - for example, asking the child to light the parent’s cigarette or get the parent a beer from the refrigerator - there is an increase likelihood that their children will become drug abusers in adolescence."

"...research shows that young people who initiative drug use before the age of 15 are at twice the risk of having drug problems as those who wait until after the age of 19."

"Even if a community cannot eliminate all the risk factors which are present, reducing or eliminating even a few risk factors may significantly decrease risk for young people in that community."