Risk

1
Session 2

• Risk protective factors

2
What are they?

• Risk factors
• Characteristics of an individual/community that
  encourage or are linked to substance abuse
• Protective factors
• Characteristics of an individual/community that
  discourage or are not linked to substance abuse

3
Individual environmental

• Individual
• Risk/protective factors that are part of the way
  a person is
• Environmental
• Risk/protective factors that are part of the
  community a person belongs to

4
Individual risk factors (1)

• Being a boy
• More boys than girls use substances, especially
  illicit, but you need to be careful with
  under-reporting (girls hide use more because its
  less acceptable).
• Being young
• To define his/her personality, a young person
  could use substances
• To experiment (What do I like? Where are my
  limits? Who am I?).
• Declare his/her belonging to a group.
• Relieve anxiety.

5
Individual risk factors (2)

• Poor personal and social skills
• Less able to cope and more likely to use
  substances to solve problems or more likely to
  follow substance use behaviour of peers.
• Mental health problems
• Problems that make you less able to cope
  attract discrimination.

6
Individual risk factors (3)

• Attitudes favourable to substance abuse.
• A change in attitudes is one of the best proxy
  indicators for a (future) change in behaviour.
• Intention to use.
• Lack of information and low perception of risk.
• Information and awareness are necessary! However,
  a change in the level of information and
  awareness are not linked on their own to a change
  in behaviour.

7
Environmental risk factors (1)

• In the family
• Lack of physical or psychological care.
• Inconsistent or too strict parenting.
• Problems in the family, verbal, physical or
  sexual abuse.
• Substance use by parents and/or older siblings.
• In the school
• Low attachment to the school
• Low attendance and truancy

8
Environmental risk factors (2)

• In the community
• Verbal, physical or sexual abuse.
• Substance use in the community, especially by
  close friends and peers.
• Culture
• The culture young people identify with (the
  lifestyle of a group, religion, traditions).
• The way substance use is portrayed in the media.
• Advertising.

9
Environmental risk factors (3)

• Lack of opportunities
• To be educated.
• To find an adequate fulfilling job.
• To employ free time constructively.
• To get help from youth-friendly health social
  services if you need it.
• Availability of substances
• How easy is it for (young) people to get
  substances and to use them? Also licit substances!

10
Concluding thoughts (1)

• There is not one factor that can explain the
  substance abuse problem of a target group/
  community.
• Therefore, a prevention programme needs a range
  of activities addressing different
  risk/protective factors.
• The substance abuse problem of each target
  group/community is determined by different
  risk/protective factors.
• Therefore, before you decide what to do, you need
  to find out what the situation is.

11
Concluding thoughts (2)

• Sometimes programmes are too limited to have an
  effect in terms of making less people start using
  substances.
• However, sometimes it is easy to show change in
  terms of a risk factor that has been demonstrated
  to be linked to substance abuse.
• If programmes are clear about the risk factors
  they want to address, it is easier for them to
  show that they are effective.