Researchers in the child welfare field have developed the concept of "protective factors" to go along with the concept of "risk factors". (See www.childwelfare.gov/can/factors/protective.cfm).

Protective factors are circumstances that are associated with lowering the frequency of child abuse and neglect.

One protective factor is resiliency, the ability to handle the different challenges that come your way, and bounce back from the hard times.

On a recent call to the Parental Stress Line Alice (pseudonym) called about her two daughters, one age 19 has a substance abuse problem and learning disability, the other age 16 attends a therapeutic school for children with special needs. She is a single parent, and overwhelmed by all of these challenges. On the Parental Stress Line we helped her identify her strengths -- the advocacy she has done for her children, maintaining a stable and safe home, reaching out to the PSL when she needs to touch base with another adult. Alice becomes more resilient as she identifies her strengths and past coping strategies and can use them in different situations that arise.

In one of our Parent Support Groups Richard (pseudonym) talks with other parents about the difficulty of raising his son with Aspergers syndrome, a form of autism. He describes situations where his son has tantrums in public places, volatile reactions to textures of food and clothing, difficulty sleeping in his own bed. Richard becomes more resilient as he explores incidents where these behaviors arise, identifies what strategies have helped as well as receiving ideas generated by other members.

Parents become more resilient when they are able to identify their strengths on the Parental Stress Line or in parent support groups. They feel better about themselves, and they become more creative in identifying and utilizing strategies. With this raised self esteem and coping skills, the likelihood of child abuse and neglect is lowered.

To read about the data we collect on protective factors, visit our web page on How we prevent child abuse.