Protective factors

Protective factors are characteristics, relationships, resources or conditions that reduce the risk of problems and support health and resilience.

Definition

They can operate at the individual, family, community and environmental levels. Examples include supportive relationships, access to help, stable living conditions, coping skills, physical activity, and a sense of meaning. Protective factors do not make a person invulnerable, but they reduce susceptibility to overload and help to return to balance more quickly.

Key ideas

Missing key ideas.

Practice and life

Make a list of five factors that actually protect you: people, rituals, places, skills and forms of support.

Common misunderstanding

It is a mistake to think that one protective factor will do everything. A common mistake is to only notice resources when they are already lost.

Questions for self-reflection

No questions for self-reflection.

Sources

No sources.