If you would like TDAC to visit your school, please send us your name, the name and location of your school, and a phone number where we can reach you during the day. You may e-mail this information to us by clicking the link 'contact us' on the left side of this page. Or, you may call us or write us at:

Tennessee Drug Awareness Council
P.O. Box 535
Columbia, Tennessee 38402
Phone: 931-388-3435
Fax: 931-381-0131

RISK FACTORS and PROTECTIVE FACTORS

As the new school year begins we encourage you to revisit the risk factors that have been identified through research to increase the chances that youth will engage in unhealthy or problem behavior. These risk factors are associated with five problem behaviors- substance abuse, violence, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and school dropout. The more risk factors that are present, the greater the risk for the youth to become involved in risky behavior. Risk factors fall into four basic domains: community risk factors, family risk factors, school risk factors, and individual/peer risk factors.


Community

• Availability of drugs
• Community laws and norms favorable toward drug use
• Media portrayals
• Transitions and mobility
• Low neighborhood attachment and community disorganization
• Extreme Economic and Social Deprivation

Family

• Family history of drug abuse
• Family management issues
• Family conflict
• Favorable parental attitudes and involvement
  in drug abuse 

School

• Lack of commitment to school
• Academic failure in elementary school
• Early and persistent antisocial behavior 

Individual/Peer

• Alienation and rebelliousness
• Friends who engage in a problem behavior
• Favorable attitudes toward the problem behavior
• Early Initiation of the problem behavior
• Constitutional factors

At a glance, this list can be overwhelming. But, the good news is that an effective method for buffering the risk factors has also been identified. Protective factors counter risks factors; the more protective factors are present, the less the risk. Protective factors fall into three basic categories: individual characteristics, bonding, and healthy beliefs and clear standards.

Individual Characteristics

• Gender (males are more likely to abuse drugs)
• A resilient temperament
• A positive social orientation
• Intelligence

Bonding

• Attached to positive families, friends, school,
  and community
• Committed to achieving the goals valued by
  those groups
• Bonded to others with healthy beliefs

Healthy Beliefs and Clear Standards

• Clear, positive standards for behavior
• High expectations for school success
• Clear standards against the problem behaviors
  by young people

These excerpts came from an article in the DATELINE/DREAM magazine, April/May 2001 edition.