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Russ Curtis, Ph.D., Professor of Counseling

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Mental Health and Mental Illness Basics Part 1 - Risk and Protective Factors

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Counselor Toolbox Podcast with DocSnipes

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Counselor Toolbox Podcast with DocSnipes - Mental Health and Mental Illness Basics Part 1_ Risk and Protective Factors

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When It Is Darkest: Why People Die by Suicide and What We Can Do to Prevent It

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When It Is Darkest: Why People Die by Suicide and What We Can Do to Prevent It - Kindle edition by O'Connor, Rory. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets.

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If you are an existing Resilience App user, please click here to login.

If you require support, please email [email protected] .

After registering online, you're welcome to download the smartphone app to your device. Search "Resilience App" in the app store or click the buttons below.

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If you are an existing Resilience App user, please click here to login. If you require support, please email [email protected] . After registering online, you're welcome to download the smartphone app to your device. Search "Resilience App" in the app store or click the buttons below.

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7 Protective Factors That Promote Children's Resilience

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Alissa C. Briggs, PhD, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and licensed psychologist with UK HealthCare Adolescent Medicine, joined host Jakob Hester this month to talk about resilience and mental health in children and teens. You'll learn about: what it means for children to be resilient; the protective factors and skills that enhance children's resilience; current mental health trends in school-age children; and how to support resilience and mental health as a parent or caregiver. Alissa also shares tips for coping as a parent or caregiver and touches on topics like growth mindset, the effects of social media use and proper self-care for adolescents.

You can view the episode show notes here.

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Becoming Wildly Resilient - Episode 27: Raising Resilient Children

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Alissa C. Briggs, PhD, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and licensed psychologist with UK HealthCare Adolescent Medicine, joined host Jakob Hester this month to talk about resilience and mental health in children and teens.

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MoodKit is a one-of-a-kind app designed to help you apply effective strategies of professional psychology to your everyday life. With four integrated tools, MoodKit helps you to engage in mood-enhancing activities, identify and change unhealthy thinking, rate and chart mood across time, and create journal entries using custom templates designed to promote well-being.

MoodKit draws upon the principles and techniques of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), one of the most effective and scientifically-supported methods of psychotherapy. MoodKit's innovative design enables it to be used on its own or to enhance professional treatment.

Learn more about MoodKit's four core tools below.

MoodKit Activities: Take action to improve your life with mood-enhancing activities

The MoodKit Activities tool provides a wide variety of suggestions for specific steps you can take to improve your mood. The activities, along with their accompanying examples and tips, provide you with specific ways to implement psychological principles and techniques known to reduce negative feelings and enhance well-being.

MoodKit activities are organized into 5 mood-improvement categories, plus an additional special category called ThriveTips. Each activity allows you to commit to implementing it, select it as a favorite, share it with others, schedule it in your calendar, and make a Journal entry about it.

Thought Checker: Feel better by changing how you think

Thought Checker helps you to manage negative feelings related to a specific situation by identifying and modifying the thoughts that contribute to those feelings. Through repeated use, it will help you learn to change your feelings (or change the intensity of your feelings) by changing how you think.

Thought Checker walks you through a brief process of identifying situations in which you experience distress, specifying the feelings and thoughts you experienced in those situations, determining whether those thoughts represent common patterns of biased or distorted thinking, modifying such thinking, and evaluating the impact on your feelings.

Mood Tracker: Rate and chart your daily mood to monitor progress

Mood Tracker allows you to make, save, and chart daily ratings of your mood. Through its integration with the Journal tool, it also enables you to record and save any notes that you would like to attach to your mood ratings.

Mood ratings are compiled in a chart that displays the last 7-days (portrait mode) or 30-days (landscape mode) of mood ratings. Charts are fully exportable by email for archiving or for use in professional treatment. Includes chart scrolling and enhanced charts displaying individual mood ratings, daily averages, and daily ranges.

MoodKit Journal: Develop self-awareness and attitudes that promote well-being

The MoodKit Journal allows you to create, save, and export written notes about a variety of mood-related activities and observations in everyday life. This tool comes with a variety of pre-formatted templates to help you journal in specific ways known to help improve mood. You can also create your own custom templates for repeated use.

Additionally, the Journal tool provides a central place where notes and summaries produced by MoodKit's other tools can be accessed, compiled, and exported.

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MoodKit is a one-of-a-kind app designed to help you apply effective strategies of professional psychology to your everyday life. With four integrated tools, MoodKit helps you to engage in mood-enhancing activities, identify and change unhealthy thinking, rate and chart mood across time, and create journal entries using custom templates designed to promote well-being.

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Influential Factors in Mental Health Outcomes

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There are many factors that play a role in how a person develops through childhood and transitions into adulthood. Everything from genetics to home environment plays an important role in defining your child's future and potential.

The 5 Protective Factors

Did you know, however, that there are five factors proven to reduce the likelihood of negative life outcomes, including mental and behavioral health challenges and long-term relationships?

Experts in mental and behavioral health as well as childhood development have recognized the protective factors for decades. The protective factors are five key things parents can control that help to develop resilience for young people over a lifetime. These five factors work together like a shield that your child can take into the world and use against difficulty, adversity, and life's challenges. Keep in mind, these five factors will not protect your child from experiencing adversity-nothing can do that. What they will do is give you, the parent, a checklist of things that will help you raise healthy, well-rounded children who are able to transition successfully into adults.

Here are the Five Protective Factors:

Concrete support in times of need

Resilience in parents

Competence in relationships

Understanding both parental skills as well as child development

Connections in a larger community or network

Let's look at each of these more in-depth.

While most parents wish they could keep their children safe in a bubble away from the difficulty that life sometimes offers, the fact is that at some point your child will face a situation that is emotionally trying or difficult.

Providing concrete support for your child when they face difficulty is one of the most important things parents can do to help their children develop resilience and learn good coping skills to use as they grow older.

When your child is struggling with a challenge or major life transition, allow him or her to talk about how they are feeling. Don't try to guide the conversation to a resolution; rather, ask questions and show empathy for what they are experiencing.

An important tool for parents is getting outside help if kids are experiencing something particularly traumatic like the loss of a close loved one or friend, witnessing or experiencing violence, or a life change that creates long-term stress such as a sibling with a serious illness. Getting the additional support of a mental health specialist can help parents navigate difficult waters and get their kids and teens the help they need for long-term, sustainable resilience.

Kids build their identities through their parents. They will repeat and internalize their parents' values, behaviors, and mannerisms. The wonderful and terrible thing about this is that parents teach by modeling. For example, if you tell your child not to smoke cigarettes while you are lighting a cigarette, which lesson do you think your child will take away?

Resilience is the same. When you, the parent or caregiver, experience times of difficulty or emotional upheaval, you have the opportunity to model resilience, self-care, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance to your kids.

For example, tell your kids that you are having a hard time, but also that it's going to be okay. Even asking their advice on how to best handle a situation can help build resilience. While it is important to keep information age appropriate, it is okay to give them insights into your world and your struggles and show them how you are handling those challenges.

"Second only to survival, relationships are the primary human need," said Justin Hacking, Clinical Supervisor at Idaho Youth Ranch.

Teaching your kids how to have healthy relationships is foundational to the protective factors. Healthy relationships based on trust, mutual respect, and healthy communication provide a safety net against difficulty, adversity, and trauma. It is imperative to human development (not just child development) to have a community to support you in times of need.

Teaching kids how to be a good friend, communicate effectively, regulate emotions, fight fairly, and share are all important skills to help young people develop solid relational skills that will help their long-term success as adults.

You can do this by modeling respectful relationships and healthy communication.

This protective factor weighs heavily on parents seeking additional support and understanding.

There are two important parts: parenting skills and child development.

Understanding child development is a protective factor because it allows parents to interact with their kids in an age appropriate way. It is also important for parents to recognize that when it comes to their kids, actions speak louder than words.

Imagine a two-year-old child sitting in a highchair near a counter. On the counter sits a jar of cookies. The child reaches for the cookie jar and the caregiver immediately slaps the child's hand, points a finger in his face, and says, "No!"

This caregiver's logic is that the painful slap and direct, stern voice will make the child averse to reaching for the cookies.

The informed parent knows that a two-year-old child is not able to make that logical connection yet; instead, they simply move the cookie jar and say gently, "We can have a cookie after lunch," while handing the child an alternative item to hold.

Understanding how children learn is an important factor because it gives parents a leg-up on when and how to react to situations.

It also helps children develop important skills like empathetic communication, establishing healthy boundaries, reinforcing desirable behaviors, and modeling good skills.

Being a skilled, educated parent is a vital part of the protective factors because your skill set as a parent or caregiver will set the patterns of behavior by which your child will interact with the world.

Social connections are different than social-emotional competence. Social-emotional competence is focused on teaching your child how to maintain healthy relationships through self-regulation and good communication skills.

Instead, social connections are focused on your child being a part of a larger community or support network. These can be connections with extended family, friends at school, neighbors, coaches, or other people outside their immediate family with whom he/she (the child) has a role to play.

Social connections create a safety net and give kids opportunities to practice communication, engage with different personalities, be a part of a team, and develop empathy. In other words, social connections are the piece of the puzzle that will help your child learn how to engage with the world.

Research tells us that when these five protective factors are well established within a family, the likelihood of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction drops dramatically. It also tells us that these five factors promote strong, healthy family environments which support optimal child and youth development.

By focusing on the protective factors in your family, you will be better able to help your children successfully transition into adulthood with the emotional skills and resilience they need to be successful.

Need More Help?

If you need individual or family therapy to help your child or family through any of these areas, Idaho Youth Ranch can help. We offer proven therapies designed to support emotional regulation, communication, distress tolerance, and relationship skills. We also offer parenting classes, Equine Therapy, career development, and TeleMental Health.

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The 5 Protective Factors that Promote Resilience

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There are many factors that play a role in how a person develops through childhood and transitions into adulthood. Everything from genetics to home environment plays an important role in defining your child's future and potential. Did you know, however, that there are five factors proven to reduce the likelihood of negative life outcomes, including mental and behavioral health challenges and long-term relationships?

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Top Tips on easing our way back to school. Ashley gives practical strategies to make it easier on the kids and us as parents, god knows we need it! Come over and join our Free Supportive FB group - see link below for more tips on building Resilience in our kids Link to PDF of top tips - https://www.canva.com/design/DAEoX6BoNQs/share/preview?token=qkxt3SBB9lp5ghXWdHrP0A&role=EDITOR&utm_content=DAEoX6BoNQs&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton 👉To Follow Ashley at The Resilient Kid - 🖥 www.theresilientkid.co.uk or 📩email ashley@theresilientkid.co.uk with any questions you would like addressing The Resilient Kid Free FB group is here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/resilientkidgroup come on over! 👍FB page - https://www.facebook.com/resilientkiduk 😎Insta - https://www.instagram.com/resilientkid/ 💼LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/resilientkid/

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Top Tips on easing our way back to school. Ashley gives practical strategies to make it easier on the kids and us as parents, god knows we need it!

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Risk and Protective Factors for Mental Illness

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Understanding Suicide: A National Epidemic

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Understanding Suicide: A National Epidemic - Kindle edition by Goldsmith, Connie. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Understanding Suicide: A National Epidemic.

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Wishing Wellness is a workbook for the child whose mother or father is suffering from a serious mental illness. Packed with information, interactive questions, and fun activities, it's an ideal tool for children and their therapists or other professional mental health workers, covering:

How the brain works

Causes, symptoms, and treatment of mental illness

Feelings and what to do with them

Good relationships with parents

Talking to friends and others

Roles, rights, and responsibilities in the family

Coping with prejudice

Building a circle of support

A "Therapist Resource Guide" is available online at https://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/441A313-guide.pdf
From the "Therapist Resource Guide"

Wishing Wellness was created as a therapeutic tool for children who have a parent with a major mental illness. Children in this situation are at risk for emotional, behavioral, and intellectual difficulties, as well as developmental delays, school achievement problems, deficits in social functioning, and later drug and alcohol abuse. They are at greater risk for mental illness themselves, both as children and adolescents, and later in life. However, the risks are minimized when these children learn the facts about mental illness and when they receive the emotional support and understanding of a mental health professional.

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Wishing Wellness: A Workbook for Children of Parents With Mental Illness

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Wishing Wellness: A Workbook for Children of Parents With Mental Illness [Clarke, Lisa A., Matthews, Bonnie] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Wishing Wellness: A Workbook for Children of Parents With Mental Illness

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Resilience: A book to encourage resilience, persistence and to help children bounce back from challenges and adversity

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Resilience: A book to encourage resilience, persistence and to help children bounce back from challenges and adversity [Sanders, Jayneen, Cardoso, Sofia] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Resilience: A book to encourage resilience, persistence and to help children bounce back from challenges and adversity

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Living the Protective Factors: How We Keep Our Children Safe and Families Strong

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Living the Protective Factors: How We Keep Our Children Safe and Families Strong [Be Strong Families, Katthe Wolf] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Living the Protective Factors: How We Keep Our Children Safe and Families Strong

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For five decades, negative body image has been a major focus of study due to its association with psychological and social morbidity, including eating disorders. However, more recently the body image construct has broadened to include positive ways of living in the body, enabling greater
understanding of embodied well-being, as well as protective factors and interventions to guide the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

Handbook of Positive Body Image and Embodiment is the first comprehensive, research-based resource to address the breadth of innovative theoretical concepts and related practices concerning positive ways of living in the body, including positive body image and embodiment. Presenting 37 chapters by
world-renowned experts in body image and eating behaviors, this state-of-the-art collection delineates constructs of positive body image and embodiment, as well as social environments (such as families, peers, schools, media, and the Internet) and therapeutic processes that can enhance them.
Constructs examined include positive embodiment, body appreciation, body functionality, body image flexibility, broad conceptualization of beauty, intuitive eating, and attuned sexuality. Also discussed are protective factors, such as environments that promote body acceptance, personal safety,
diversity, and activism, and a resistant stance towards objectification, media images, and restrictive feminine ideals. The handbook also explores how therapeutic interventions (including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Dissonance, and many more) and public health and policy initiatives
can inform scholarly, clinical, and prevention-based work in the field of eating disorders.

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Handbook of Positive Body Image and Embodiment: Constructs, Protective Factors, and Interventions

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Amazon.com: Handbook of Positive Body Image and Embodiment: Constructs, Protective Factors, and Interventions: 9780190841874: Piran, Niva, Tylka, Tracy L.: Books

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Resilience is a skill. We can learn it. We can help the people we serve to become more resilient. Christian Moore, the author of The Resilience Breakthrough, teams up with filmmaker Dave Biesinger to explore the four sources of resilience. Guests share powerful stories of "flipping the resilience switch" and turning pain into power. Learn to turn your problems into your best friend. Transform life's adversities into opportunities for growth and learning.

Resilience is a skill. We can learn it. We can help the people we serve to become more resilient. Christian Moore, the author of The Resilience Breakthrough, teams up with filmmaker Dave Biesinger to explore the four sources of resilience. Guests share powerful stories of "flipping the resilience switch" and turning pain into power. Learn to turn your problems into your best friend. Transform life's adversities into opportunities for growth and learning.

🔥❤️

Episode 21... Straight Fire🔥🔥let's get to changing lives with love... thank you!

Refreshing & REAL!

I just finished listening to episode 17 and the whole conversation was just brilliant! So many parts resonated with me. I appreciated Christian and Dave speaking with such empathy, compassion and honesty! They were speaking my language. Lots of truth bombs were dropped. Can't wait to listen to more of their conversations.

WONDERful!

Dave & Christian speak my language. I love the flow of their conversations. There is such power in storytelling, and this podcast shares story. Each story touches the heart and informs the mind. Each interview feels unique, raw & real. They highlight stories of great resilience as well as personal and collective breakthrough. This has become a new favorite podcast of mine. It's WONDERful! I look forward to many more educational and inspirational messages.

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‎The Resilience Breakthrough Podcast on Apple Podcasts

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‎Resilience is a skill. We can learn it. We can help the people we serve to become more resilient. Christian Moore, the author of The Resilience Breakthrough, teams up with filmmaker Dave Biesinger to explore the four sources of resilience. Guests share powerful stories of "flipping the resilience sw...

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ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗

Life can be messy. It can also still be beautiful. Humans are resilient, and although there are times that we may feel completely overwhelmed due to life's many adversities in all shapes and forms, with support, connection, and hope (and a few tools) we can become the best versions of ourselves.

I am your host, Leah Davidson: a certified life coach and speech language pathologist. On this podcast, we'll learn, share, inspire, and support each other in becoming more resilient. I will also help you create a more purposeful and joyful life along the way. Let's get started!

Visit our website at www.leahdavidsonlifecoaching.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AUDIENCE OF THIS PODCAST 🔗

~71.67% of listeners are from United States.

* Data source: directly measured on Listen Notes. real-time

LATEST EPISODE 🔗

You truly are the average of the people you spend the most time with-so we'd better make sure those people are great! Today, we're going to talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with greatness in order to elevate your life. I'll give you tips of things you can surround yourself with: fo...

SEARCH PAST EPISODES

Search past episodes of Building Resilience.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Leah Davidson, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

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Life can be messy. It can also still be beautiful. Humans are resilient, and although there are times that we may feel completely overwhelmed due to life's many adversities in all shapes and forms, with support, connection, and hope (and a few tools) we can become the best versions of ourselves.

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I really do recommend this app because the app is so amazing.I amI have a lot of anxiety go through a lot of emotional thing and that this app is amazing and it really helps me if I ever get stressed at all my mum told me to get this out because it would help me so I really do recommend that the kids would enjoy this app it really helps with relaxing and calming

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‎Mindful Gnats is an app designed to teach young people simple mindfulness and relaxation skills. It can be used to help mindfulness practice when playing the Mindful Gnats desktop game (see www.peskygnats.com for details) or as a stand alone aid to mindful practice. These skills can help to reduce...

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SuperBetter uses the psychology of game play in all of life to improve resilience, mental health and social-emotional learning. Played by over 1 million people, SuperBetter unlocks your heroic potential to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals.
How it Works

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Social-Emotional Learning, Mental Health & Resilience Training

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SuperBetter uses the psychology of game play in all of life to improve resilience, mental health and social-emotional learning. Played by over 1 million people, SuperBetter unlocks your heroic potential to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals. How it Works

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The app asks users to complete Mood Ratings each day. If the user rates their happiness as less than 50%, they are asked to rate how sad, angry, or "meh" they are feeling, so that they can identify what the negative emotion that they are feeling is, promoting emotional awareness.

When the user rates their mood negatively, they are then directed to complete an activity to shift their mindset toward positive emotion. The user may use the Journal feature to journal their thoughts and feelings using words and emojis, or respond to a pre-populated question or quote. The App contains several activities designed to bolster resilience and positive emotionality.

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The app asks users to complete Mood Ratings each day. If the user rates their happiness as less than 50%, they are asked to rate how sad, angry, or "meh" they are feeling, so that they can identify what the negative emotion that they are feeling is, promoting emotional awareness.

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Lucy Hone: The three secrets of resilient people

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To most people in the field, resilience research is a calling, an academic interest or maybe even just a buzzword. For resilient expert Lucy Hone, it turned out to be an essential survival skill. In this powerful and personal talk, she shares the three strategies that got her through an unimaginable tragedy and-in doing so-offers profound insights on how to find meaning in loss.

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Suicide Prevention Base

The base for suicide prevention comes from observing suicide risk factors, suicide protective factors, and their interactions. Protective and risk factors include attitudes and behaviors. These factors have a wide variety of characteristics which may include: a person's family history, biology, psychology, and socio-cultural situation; or environmental conditions, such as easy access to the highly lethal means of suicide or easy access to help and treatment services.

Suicide Protective Factors

Protective Factors reduce the potential for a person's suicide or suicidal behavior. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center Risk and Protective Factors lists the following protective factors: Effective behavioral health care; Connectedness to individuals, family, community, and social institutions; Life skills (including problem solving skills and coping skills, ability to adapt to change); Self-esteem and sense of purpose or meaning in life; and Cultural, religious, or personal beliefs that discourage suicide

Suicide Risk Factors

Risk Factors increase the potential for a person's suicide or suicidal behavior. A person's age, gender, or ethnicity can increase the impact of certain risk factors or combinations of risk factors. Understanding risk factors can help counteract the myth that suicide is a random act or results from stress alone.

Biological, Psychological and Social Risk Factors for Suicide

Previous suicide attempt

Mental disorders - particularly mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and certain personality disorder diagnoses

Alcohol and substance abuse disorders

Family history of suicide

History of trauma or abuse

Hopelessness

Impulsive and/or aggressive tendencies

Some major physical illnesses

Environmental Risk Factors

Job or financial loss

Relational or social loss

Easy access to lethal means

Local clusters of suicide that have a contagious influence

Stigma associated with help-seeking behavior

Barriers to accessing health care, especially mental health and substance abuse treatment

Certain cultural and religious beliefs - for instance, the belief that suicide is a noble resolution of a personal dilemma

Exposure to the influence of others who have died by suicide, including media exposure

Socio-Cultural Risk Factors

Stigma associated with help-seeking behavior

Barriers to accessing health care, especially mental health and substance abuse treatment

Certain cultural and religious beliefs - for instance, the belief that suicide is a noble resolution of a personal dilemma

Exposure to the influence of others who have died by suicide, including media exposure

Selecting Useful Interventions for Suicide Prevention

Information about risk and protective factors contributes to selecting useful interventions for suicide prevention. But much remains to be learned; especially about how these risk and protective factors interact across the life course and how community suicide prevention programs can best integrate this information.

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The base for suicide prevention comes from observing suicide risk factors, suicide protective factors, and their interactions. Protective and risk factors include attitudes and behaviors. These factors have a wide variety of characteristics which may include: a person's family history, biology, psychology, and socio-cultural situation; or environmental conditions, such as easy access to the highly lethal means of suicide or easy access to help and treatment services.

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When a child experiences suicidal thoughts or mental health concerns, it can be worrisome and scary. You may find yourself asking, what can I do to help? The good news is that there are ways for you to support your child and help them learn to navigate an emotional crisis.

One strategy supported by educators and mental health professionals is to increase a child's "resilience." Resilience is defined as the ability to cope and move forward in the face of crisis. In other words, it is the ability to tackle challenges when life circumstances are very difficult. For a long time, many felt that being resilient was a trait that kids were born with, but in reality, we now know that resilience in kids can be taught and nurtured.

In the midst of a crisis, a young person experiencing suicidal thoughts can learn to manage these painful thoughts by leaning on protective factors. Protective factors are the features of one's personality or environment that can reduce the risk of suicidal behavior.

In some cases, a child may need help figuring out what works best for them to overcome a stressful situation. Many children already have protective factors, but they may need your help learning to use them so they are helpful in a crisis.

So, what exactly do protective factors look like?

Coping skills - Have a conversation with your child about what coping skills are and how they can use them to feel calm and in charge of their emotions. Help them make the connection between experiencing a negative feeling (sad/angry/scared) and doing a fun or calming activity to change their mood. Don't forget to model using coping skills! You can say something like, "Mom is feeling frustrated right now, so I am going to take some deep breaths and pet the dog to feel better."

Self-esteem - Work with your child on boosting their confidence. You can do this by encouraging them to take on leadership roles at home or in school. You can give them tasks that make them feel accomplished and proud. You can also start a conversation about what makes them feel worthy or what they like about themselves. Modeling is important for self-esteem as well. If you speak positively about yourself, they are more likely to look for their positive aspects as well.

Supports and connectedness - Having others to turn to in challenging times is important for coping under stress. This looks different for each person and may include a number of different people, such as immediate and extended family members, friends, or spiritual/faith groups. If your child has few close relationships, try building their network through extracurricular or online activities, community groups, and increasing family interactions.

School - Children spend a lot of time during the school year interacting with teachers, peers, and other school staff - even when engaged in remote learning. This means that school can have an important influence over mood and mental health. Ideally, a child has a positive experience at school and feels connected and respected. If this is not the case for your child, consider reaching out to the school for support and advocating for your child's needs. School personnel can be a great partner in improving outcomes for your child academically, socially, and emotionally.

Mental health care - Sometimes mood or behavior issues are severe or long-lasting and get in the way of a child dealing with different challenges. Mental health support from licensed professionals can make a big difference in outcomes for a child experiencing suicidal thinking, depression, or other mental health concerns. Each child may have different needs which could include therapy, medication, a combination of approaches, or other effective strategies. If you have concerns, be sure to discuss with your child's pediatrician or contact a mental health agency to initiate services. Remember, therapeutic support is also provided every time you or another support person takes the time to empathetically listen to your child.

Limiting access to weapons, medications and other lethal means - If your child is experiencing suicidal thinking or you have concern they might, removing their access to lethal means can be a life-saving intervention. Research suggests children are more impulsive than adults and move from thinking about suicide to acting on it quickly; this means that safe storage is a critical part of suicide prevention. It is critical to consider how your family is storing firearms, medications, chemicals, sharps, and anything else your child may use to harm their body.

Ask directly - Asking directly about thoughts of suicide and means for harm is the most effective way to determine risk. Don't be afraid to ask your child, "Are you thinking about killing yourself? What have you thought about using to hurt yourself?" These questions will not put the idea in a child's mind.

Consider using the protective factors mentioned above to build resiliency. These are some of the best ways to reduce risk for suicide in your child. You can also work with your child to better understand their warning signs for a crisis and encourage them to use their protective and coping skills when these warning signs are noticed. You will want to discuss these concerns with your care provider but can also utilize 24/7 crisis support lines for consultation if needed.

If your child is having suicidal thoughts, take him or her to your local emergency room immediately or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Do not leave your child alone until you see a mental health professional. Let them know you will get through this together. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting "4HOPE" to 741-741 to receive support anytime.

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7 Ways to Improve Resiliency and Reduce Suicide Risk

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When a child experiences suicidal thoughts or mental health concerns, it can be worrisome and scary. You may find yourself asking, what can I do to help? The good news is that there are ways for you to support your child and help them learn to navigate an emotional crisis.

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As youth grow and reach their developmental competencies, there are contextual variables that promote or hinder the process. These are frequently referred to as protective and risk factors.

The presence or absence and various combinations of protective and risk factors contribute to the mental health of youth. Identifying protective and risk factors in youth may guide the prevention and intervention strategies to pursue with them. Protective and risk factors may also influence the course mental health disorders might take if present.

A protective factor can be defined as "a characteristic at the biological, psychological, family, or community (including peers and culture) level that is associated with a lower likelihood of problem outcomes or that reduces the negative impact of a risk factor on problem outcomes."¹ Conversely, a risk factor can be defined as "a characteristic at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precedes and is associated with a higher likelihood of problem outcomes."² The table below provides examples of protective and risk factors by five domains: youth, family, peer, community, and society.

Risk and Protective Factors for Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders in Adolescences

Risk Factors

Domains

Protective Factors

Female gender

Early puberty

Difficult temperament: inflexibility, low positive mood, withdrawal, poor concentration

Low self-esteem, perceived incompetence, negative explanatory and inferential style

Anxiety

Low-level depressive symptoms and dysthymia

Insecure attachment

Poor social skills: communication and problem-solving skills

Extreme need for approval and social support

Low self-esteem

Shyness

Emotional problems in childhood

Conduct disorder

Favorable attitudes toward drugs

Rebelliousness

Early substance use

Antisocial behavior

Head injury

Marijuana use

Childhood exposure to lead or mercury (neurotoxins)

Individual

Positive physical development

Academic achievement/intellectual development

High self-esteem

Emotional self-regulation

Good coping skills and problem-solving skills

Engagement and connections in two or more of the following contexts: school, with peers, in athletics, employment, religion, culture

Parental depression

Parent-child conflict

Poor parenting

Negative family environment (may include substance abuse in parents)

Child abuse/maltreatment

Single-parent family (for girls only)

Divorce

Marital conflict

Family conflict

Parent with anxiety

Parental/marital conflict

Family conflict (interactions between parents and children and among children)

Parental drug/alcohol use

Parental unemployment

Substance use among parents

Lack of adult supervision

Poor attachment with parents

Family dysfunction

Family member with schizophrenia

Poor parental supervision

Parental depression

Sexual abuse

Family

Family provides structure, limits, rules, monitoring, and predictability

Supportive relationships with family members

Clear expectations for behavior and values

Peer rejection

Stressful events

Poor academic achievement

Poverty

Community-level stressful or traumatic events

School-level stressful or traumatic events

Community violence

School violence

Poverty

Traumatic event

School failure

Low commitment to school

Not college bound

Aggression toward peers

Associating with drug-using peers

Societal/community norms favor alcohol and drug use

Urban setting

Poverty

Associating with deviant peers

Loss of close relationship or friends

School, Neighborhood, and Community

Presence of mentors and support for development of skills and interests

Opportunities for engagement within school and community

Positive norms

Clear expectations for behavior

Physical and psychological safety

Adapted from O'Connell, M. E., Boat, T., & Warner, K. E.. (2009). Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2009). Risk and protective factors for mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders across the life cycle. Retrieved from http://dhss.alaska.gov/dbh/Documents/Prevention/programs/spfsig/pdfs/IOM_Matrix_8%205x11_FINAL.pdf

Resources

Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
This Report of the Surgeon General on Mental Health is the product of a collaboration between two federal agencies, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health. The report provides an overview of mental health as well as a section targeted at children's mental health. One of the key sections focuses on the risk and protective factors related to mental health in children.

References

¹ O'Connell, Boat, & Warner, 2009 p. xxvii
² O'Connell, Boat, & Warner, 2009 p. xxviii

Other Resources on this Topic

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As youth grow and reach their developmental competencies, there are contextual variables that promote or hinder the process. These are frequently referred to as protective and risk factors. The presence or absence and various combinations of protective and risk factors contribute to the mental health of youth.

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Sources of Strength is...

A best practice youth suicide prevention project designed to harness the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse. The mission of Sources of Strength is to prevent suicide by increasing help seeking behaviors and promoting connections between peers and caring adults. Sources of Strength moves beyond a singular focus on risk factors by utilizing an upstream approach for youth suicide prevention. This upstream model strengthens multiple sources of support (protective factors) around young individuals so that when times get hard they have strengths to rely on.

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A best practice youth suicide prevention project designed to harness the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse. The mission of Sources of Strength is to prevent suicide by increasing help seeking behaviors and promoting connections between peers and caring adults.

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Is your family healthy? We spoke with an expert on the subject to get practical tips and tools you can practice at home.

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Joy Chuba is the Executive Director at Children's Advocacy Center Osceola, part of Embrace Families. She's worked in the field of child abuse for 23 years and knows a thing or two about the characteristics of a healthy family.

Below are a few excerpts from her Expert Chat with us about the protective factors and what makes a healthy family.
What are the protective factors? The Six Protective Factors really enhance the parent's abilities to support their children. Children are going to encounter stress, parents are going to encounter stress, and so are families. So the Six Protective Factors are really crucial for healthy development and help children overcome experiences that can be difficult. What does nurturing and attachment mean? When children and their parents feel a positive bond and warm feelings towards each other, it really helps the child feel confident that their caregiver's going to basically keep them safe and meet their basic needs. It's really important for healthy development. How can parents and caregivers form positive bonds with their children? Play with your children. Read with your infant. There are so many ways to develop that nurturing bond between the caregivers and the child. What is knowledge of parenting and child development important? Really understanding what development looks like for an infant, a toddler, a teenager, is all really part of adapting your parenting style. One example I can give you is at the center here, when we have a child who's two or three, typically they're all doing the same thing. They're running around the office, saying "No" to their caregiver, touching everything in their sight. Sometimes that's stressful for parents. I always respond the same way and say, "That's their job at this age." That is developmentally right on track for your child.
How can parents and caregivers promote healthy child development? One really important part of it is if you notice your child isn't developing the way that your pediatrician or the resources that you've looked at say they should be, then it's an opportunity to get really early intervention for those children. What is parental resilience? Really it's about the parents having the ability to manage everyday stress; everyday stress of parenting and also occasional crises. When a parent is resilient, they have the resources and the strength to overcome stressful situations and still function and be able to meet their child's needs. How does parental resilience affect children? Children learn from their caregivers. They are deeply influenced by the family system. They are seeing and you're modeling for them ways that they can build resilience into their own individuality. Why are social connections important? Everyone needs support and very much so do parents. If you are a person who is isolated, that can be difficult for you to be resilient like one of the other protective factors we talked about. Having social supports, having family and friends you can rely on, is one of the qualities that help strengthen a family. What are concrete supports? Concrete supports really mean anything that is basic to safety and life. Food, shelter, transportation, and really your basic needs - a hierarchy of needs, as Maslow would say. What is social and emotional competence? Social and emotional competence is about the child's ability to interact with their world, which of course, is largely influenced by how their caregivers interact with the child and what they teach them. There are elements of social and emotional competence that go both ways. Caregivers and parents should teach their children about expressing their emotions in a way that's safe and be able to regulate their emotions, so calming down when they're upset. How can parents and caregivers help children manage their emotions? When you have a young toddler who's crying, maybe having a fit, hold them, give them a teddy bear. Coach them through that. "You're feeling upset, hug the teddy bear." There are some really simple ways you can teach children how to regulate their emotions. Children learn from their environment, so if they see caregivers who can manage their emotions, express them in a safe way, then children are more likely to model that. What lesson should families take away from the protective factors? Although we can't completely eliminate all the stressors in life and all the difficult challenges families might face, there are things you can do within your family to promote healthy development and resilient children. How can families help each other in times of need? If you see a neighbor or you see a friend who's having difficulty, and maybe they've just lost their job, you can offer to make them dinner. Offer to care for their children. There are lots of things we can do to help each other so that we have strong, healthy communities. Where can families find more resources? You can talk with your pediatrician, you can talk with a trusted friend or counselor. You can also look at the Why is it important to check-in? It's really important that you take the time to check-in with your children regularly and keep those lines of communication open.

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Take the pledge to check-in! Starting the conversation about mental health can make a difference.

The Check-In Project is a mental health initiative of Wraparound Osceola, working to break the stigma surrounding mental health. Our goal is to provide families with the tools and resources needed to check-in with each other while fostering healthy family life.

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The Protective Factors of a Healthy Family - The Check-In Project

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Is your family healthy? We spoke with an expert on the subject to get practical tips and tools you can practice at home. ‍ ‍ Joy Chuba is the Executive Director at Children's Advocacy Center Osceola, part of Embrace Families.

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A protective factor is something that helps to prevent problems. A risk factor is something that helps to create problems.

Mental health problems are complex issues and are never the result of one risk factor. Someone who has several risk factors could have more resiliency towards problems than someone else who experienced less risk factors. It is important to remember that each individual person experiences stress, pain, and risk in different ways.

Common Risk Factors

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A protective factor is something that helps to prevent problems. A risk factor is something that helps to create problems. Mental health problems are complex issues and are never the result of one risk factor. Someone who has several risk factors could have more resiliency towards problems than someone else who experienced less risk factors.

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Many factors contribute to suicide risk.

Suicide is rarely caused by a single circumstance or event. Instead, a range of factors-at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels -can increase risk. These risk factors are situations or problems that can increase the possibility that a person will attempt suicide.

Circumstances that increase suicide risk

Individual Risk Factors
These personal factors contribute to risk:

Previous suicide attempt

History of depression and other mental illnesses

Serious illness such as chronic pain

Criminal/legal problems

Job/financial problems or loss

Impulsive or aggressive tendencies

Substance use

Current or prior history of adverse childhood experiences

Sense of hopelessness

Violence victimization and/or perpetration

Relationship Risk Factors
These harmful or hurtful experiences within relationships contribute to risk:

Bullying

Family/loved one's history of suicide

Loss of relationships

High conflict or violent relationships

Social isolation

Community Risk Factors
These challenging issues within a person's community contribute to risk:

Lack of access to healthcare

Suicide cluster in the community

Stress of acculturation

Community violence

Historical trauma

Discrimination

Societal Risk Factors
These cultural and environmental factors within the larger society contribute to risk:

Stigma associated with help-seeking and mental illness

Easy access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk

Unsafe media portrayals of suicide

Many factors protect against suicide risk.

Many factors can reduce risk for suicide. Similar to risk factors, a range of factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels can protect people from suicide. Everyone can help prevent suicide. We can take action in communities and as a society to support people and help protect them from suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Circumstances that protect against suicide risk

Individual Protective Factors
These personal factors protect against suicide risk:

Effective coping and problem-solving skills

Reasons for living (for example, family, friends, pets, etc.)

Strong sense of cultural identity

Relationship Protective Factors
These healthy relationship experiences protect against suicide risk:

Support from partners, friends, and family

Feeling connected to others

Community Protective Factors
These supportive community experiences protect against suicide risk:

Feeling connected to school, community, and other social institutions

Availability of consistent and high quality physical and behavioral healthcare

Societal Protective Factors:
These cultural and environmental factors within the larger society protect against suicide risk:

Reduced access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk

Cultural, religious, or moral objections to suicide

Suicide is connected to other forms of injury and violence. For example, people who have experienced violence, including child abuse, bullying, or sexual violence, have a higher suicide risk. Watch Moving Forward to learn how everyone benefits when we increase efforts to protect people from violence and reduce issues that put people at risk.

Do you know the warning signs for suicide?

If someone is at risk for suicide, you can watch for warning signs, including:

Talking about being a burden

Being isolated

Increased anxiety

Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain

Increased substance use

Looking for a way to access lethal means

Increased anger or rage

Extreme mood swings

Expressing hopelessness

Sleeping too little or too much

Talking or posting about wanting to die

Making plans for suicide

Read CDC's Feature, #BeThere to Help Prevent Suicide, and CDC's VitalSigns to learn more about the warning signs and how to help someone at risk.

Contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline if you are experiencing mental health-related distress or are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

Connect with a trained crisis counselor. 988 is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365.

Visit the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for more information at 988lifeline.org .

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factors that protect against suicide risk

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mental illness can contribute to suicide

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Many factors contribute to suicide risk. Suicide is rarely caused by a single circumstance or event. Instead, a range of factors-at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels -can increase risk. These risk factors are situations or problems that can increase the possibility that a person will attempt suicide.

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Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, and communities that promote the health and well-being of children and families. By using a protective factors approach, child welfare professionals and others can help parents find resources and supports that emphasize their strengths while also identifying areas where they need assistance, thereby reducing the chances of child abuse and neglect.

What are the protective factors to prevent child abuse and neglect?

There are a variety of protective factors approaches, with each highlighting a different set of factors. The following are the six factors included in the Children's Bureau's framework that community-based service providers can use to identify strengths within families and how those strengths can be further developed to prevent child abuse.

A child's early experiences of being nurtured and developing a bond with a caring adult affects all aspects of behavior and development. When parents and children have strong, warm feelings for one another, children develop trust that their parents will provide what they need to thrive, including love, acceptance, positive guidance, and protection.

Research shows that babies who receive affection and nurturing from their parents have the best chance of healthy development. A child's relationship with a consistent, caring adult in the early years is associated later in life with better academic grades, healthier behaviors, more positive peer interactions, and an increased ability to cope with stress.

Essentials for Childhood: Creating Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments for All Children (PDF - 24,945 KB)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Violence Prevention (2019)
Describes a framework to guide community activities to help build safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for children and families. The guide outlines four main goals: to raise awareness and commitment to promoting safe, stable, and nurturing relationships; to use data to inform actions; to create the context for healthy children through norms change and program creation; and to create the context for healthy children through policy change.

Helping Caregivers Foster Secure Attachment in Young Children
Jackson (2017)
Social Work Today, 17(4)
Describes an intervention designed to help parents better identify behaviors that may contribute to insecure attachment and increase the quantity and quality of nurturing behaviors.

Responsive Care: Nurturing a Strong Attachment Through Everyday Moments
ZERO TO THREE (2016)
Showcases a video on responsive care, the process of watching and tuning into a child's cues and responding in a sensitive way in order to nurture and build attachment with the child.

There is extensive research linking healthy child development to effective parenting. Children thrive when parents provide not only affection but also respectful communication and listening, consistent rules and expectations, and safe opportunities that promote independence. Successful parenting fosters psychological adjustment, helps children succeed in school, encourages curiosity about the world, and motivates children to achieve. The following resources offer information that helps families build their knowledge of child and youth development.

Parents who can cope with the stresses of everyday life, as well an occasional crisis, have resilience; they have the flexibility and inner strength necessary to bounce back when things are not going well. Multiple life stressors, such as a family history of abuse or neglect, health problems, marital conflict, or domestic or community violence-and financial stressors, such as unemployment, poverty, and homelessness-may reduce a parent's capacity to cope effectively with the typical day-to-day stresses of raising children. The following resources support parents and caregivers in building their resilience.

Engaging Resilience: How Responsive Caregiving Lays the Foundation for Children to Thrive
LENA (2020)
Discusses the importance of the relationship with a caring adult provides children with the stability and security they need for healthy emotional, social, and behavioral development.

Parents and caregivers with a social network of emotionally supportive friends, family, and neighbors often find that it is easier to care for their children and themselves compared with those who do not have such a network. All caregivers need people they can call on once in a while when they need a sympathetic listener, advice, or concrete support. Research has shown that parents who are isolated and have few social connections are at higher risk for maltreating their children. The following resources provide an array of information that help families enhance their social connections.

Many factors can affect a family's ability to care for its children.

Partnering with parents to identify and access resources in the community may help prevent the stress that sometimes precipitates child maltreatment. Providing concrete supports may also help prevent the unintended neglect that sometimes occurs when parents are unable to provide for their children. The following resources outline resources that offer help to parents and caregivers.

Find Support
National Parent Helpline
Provides links to national resources for a wide range of supports, including basic needs, social support emergency numbers, parenting education, and more. The webpage also includes State-specific resources.

Making Connections
Annie E. Casey Foundation
This initiative operates on the premise that families do better when they live in communities that help them to succeed. Information on theory, sites, results, and reading materials are provided.

Parents support healthy social and emotional development in children when they model how to express and communicate emotions effectively, self-regulate, and make friends. A child's social and emotional competence is crucial to sound relationships with family, adults, and peers. Conversely, delayed social-emotional development may obstruct healthy relationships. Early identification of such delays and early assistance for children and parents can provide support for family relationships and sustain positive and appropriate development.

Social-Emotional Competence of Children: Protective and Promotive Factors (PDF - 202 KB)
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2018)
Discusses the link between children's level of social and emotional competence and their language skills, mental health, and school success.

Children's Social Emotional Development and Mental Health: Why Does It Matter?
Children's Bureau and Learning Coordination Center
Highlights why it's important for all child-and family-serving programs to integrate increased support for the social emotional development of young children and the well-being of their caregivers.

Protective factors framework

A protective factors framework provides a better understanding on how six protective factors may contribute to or explain positive outcomes for children, families, and communities, as well as prevent child abuse and neglect. The resources below provide examples of the protective factors approaches commonly used in child welfare systems.

Protective Factors and Protective Capacities: Common Ground for Protecting Children and Strengthening Families [Infographic] (PDF - 233 KB)
Capacity Building Center for States (2016)
Describes the protective capacities framework and the protective factors framework, both of which are used by child welfare practitioners to assess, intervene, and serve families as well as explores the common ground the frameworks share to help strengthen consistency in services for families.

Protective Factors Approaches in Child Welfare

Provides an overview of national protective factors approaches to prevent child abuse and neglect. It is designed to help child welfare professionals, administrators, service providers, policymakers, and other interested individuals understand the concepts of protective and risk factors in families and communities and learn ways in which building protective factors can help lower the risk of child abuse and neglect now and in the future.

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Protective Factors to Promote Well-Being and Prevent Child Abuse & Neglect

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Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that, when present, mitigate or eliminate risk in families and communities that, when present, increase the health and well-being of children and families.

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Pleasant activity scheduling, which is also referred to as behavioral activation, is a therapy technique that is often used to treat individuals with mental health conditions such as depression.

It involves scheduling and participating in positive events that are meant to boost an individual's mood. Pleasant activity scheduling is recognized as an evidence-based treatment that is effective in reducing a variety of mental health symptoms.

How Activity Scheduling Works

Individuals who are experiencing depression often isolate themselves. They may stop engaging in activities they previously enjoyed, and they may decline social invitations.

Withdrawing from activities may increase their depression. Their symptoms may last longer and become more intense which may increase their tendency to isolate themselves even more.

To help break out of this cycle, a therapist may assist a client in identifying an activity that might boost their mood. Eating dinner with a friend, going to the gym, or playing a round of golf might help someone feel better.

But therapists don't just assist clients in picking a random fun activity. Instead, they help clients identify their values. They rank how important specific values are to them such as work, education, volunteering, intimacy, family, friendship, spirituality, entertainment, and health.

Then, the therapist assists in gathering concrete activities that support these values. Someone who values friendship, for example, might enjoy having coffee or watching movies with a friend. Once concrete activities are identified, the therapist encourages the client to schedule some of these activities that are important to their values.

Next, they review the results with the therapist and determine a course of further action. Clients who found the activity helpful in boosting their moods may continue scheduling it. Those who didn't find the activity helpful may work with the therapist on finding other ones that may boost their moods.

Scheduling a pleasant activity may help in two different ways:

The act of scheduling an activity may give the individual something to look forward to. As soon as they make plans, they may experience a boost in mood.

Then, when they engage in the activity, they're likely to experience an even brighter mood which can help them break out of a downward spiral.

Research on Pleasant Activity Scheduling

Pleasant activity scheduling has been around since the 1970s. Initially, it was incorporated into cognitive behavioral therapy.

Cognitive behavior therapists assist individuals in replacing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that contribute to distress. So while an individual may be learning how to reframe thoughts that fuel their depression, they might also be learning how to increase their activity level.

But research indicates that pleasant activity scheduling can be an effective stand-alone intervention.

In fact, some individuals with severe depression may struggle to replace irrational thoughts-which is a key component in cognitive behavioral therapy. Additionally, addressing their unhealthy thoughts may actually increase their feelings of guilt (a common symptom of depression).

Therefore, pleasant activity scheduling may be an even more effective way to improve mood when it's used as a standalone intervention for depression.

Here are some other things research reveals about pleasant activity scheduling:

It's effective in group settings. A 2019 study﻿﻿ published in Behavioral Therapy concluded that "behavioral activation delivered in groups produces a moderate to large effect on depressive symptoms and should be considered an appropriate front-line treatment option."

It may help you stop smoking. A 2020 study﻿﻿ published in Addictive Behaviors found that behavioral activation reduced the relapse rate in individuals who quit smoking since depression is often a factor that makes quitting difficult. Pleasant activity scheduling was effective in decreasing depressive symptoms while also increasing the chances that individuals would successfully stop smoking.

It may be more effective than other types of treatment for certain individuals. Individuals with lifelong depression, substance abuse issues, dementia, and severe depression may not respond well to the cognitive components of cognitive behavioral therapy. A 2009 study﻿﻿ published in Behavior Modification found that these same individuals may experience relief from their symptoms when they engage in pleasant activity scheduling. The study also found that it may be superior to paroxetine (an antidepressant medication) in treating depression because it results in less relapse and recurrence, may be substantially cheaper, and does not have the risks associated with medication.

The overwhelmingly positive studies on pleasant activity scheduling have helped make it an evidence-based treatment. It's used by many practitioners who are looking to improve the mental health of their clients.

Activity Scheduling Examples

Pleasant activity scheduling is customized to each client. While the therapist assists the client in identifying the activities they want to engage in, it's up to the client to make the decisions on what they want to do and when they want to do it. Here are a few examples of how pleasant activity scheduling may be used in treatment:

A man developed depression after being laid off from his job. He spent his days at home watching TV and had little social interaction. His therapist helped him identify ways to increase his social interactions. He agreed to locate and attend one networking event each week. He also began meeting with a family member for coffee every morning. Increasing his social activity helped him feel happier and more hopeful about the future.

A woman experienced depression for many years. She struggled with low energy, and consequently, she stopped going to the gym even though her health was important to her. She worked with her therapist on identifying some activities she was willing to try like going on a hike with friends. She scheduled one activity per week for a month and found that her mood slowly began to improve.

A college student reported feeling depressed during his first year of college. His therapist discovered that he spent a lot of time in his dorm room alone. The therapist asked about activities he used to enjoy doing and discovered that he was very involved in his church when he was in high school. The client agreed to attend local church services. After several weeks of participating, he found that his mood gradually became better.

A manager was given permission to work remotely. Initially, she liked the flexibility of working from home. But within a few months, she grew depressed. Her therapist helped her identify activities that could help her feel connected to the outside world. She began walking every morning, working from a coffee shop two afternoons per week, and attending the gym three evenings per week. Her symptoms of depression decreased as her social engagement increased.

A Word From Verywell

If you notice some mild symptoms of depression, you might find adding some pleasant activities to your regular routine helps you manage your symptoms. If, however, you're struggling to feel better on your own, talk with your physician or consult with a therapist

You might find a therapist who encourages behavioral activation to be quite helpful in boosting your mood and helping you feel better.

By Amy Morin, LCSW, Editor-in-Chief
Amy Morin, LCSW, is the Editor-in-Chief of Verywell Mind. She's also a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk, "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

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How Scheduling Fun Activities Could Reduce Your Depression

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Pleasant activity scheduling, which is also referred to as behavioral activation, is a therapy technique that is often used to treat individuals with mental health conditions such as depression. It involves scheduling and participating in positive events that are meant to boost an individual's mood.