Key Protective Factors

The following 5 factors from The Strengthening Families Approach and Protective Factors Framework™: A Pathway to Healthy Development and Well-being include:

• Parental resilience: Managing stress and functioning well when faced with challenges, adversity, and trauma 
• Social connections: Positive relationships that provide emotional, informational, instrumental, and spiritual support 
• Knowledge of parenting and child development: Understanding child development and parenting strategies that support physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development 
• Concrete support in times of need: Access to concrete support and services that address a family’s needs and help minimize stress caused by challenges 
• Social and emotional competence of children: Family and child interactions that help children develop the ability to communicate clearly, recognize and regulate their emotions, and establish and maintain relationships

For more information and resources, see:

• Protective Factors Framework from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP)
• Four Ways to Assess Positive Childhood Experiences from Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE).
• Promoting Children’s Health and Resiliency: A Strengthening Families Approach from the the CSSP and AAP