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Home > Child Abuse & Neglect > Risk & Protective Factors > Protective Factors
Protective Factors
Protective factors are conditions in families and communities that, when present, increase the health and well-being of children and families. These attributes serve as buffers, helping parents to find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively, even under stress.
Research has shown that the following protective factors are linked to a lower incidence of child abuse and neglect:
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Protective Factors Literature Review: Early Care and Education Programs and the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (PDF - 1410 KB)
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2003)
Literature review of five protective factors, their promise for reducing rates of child maltreatment, and how early care and education programs can incorporate them into their operations.
Strengthening Families and Communities: 2009 Resource Guide
Children's Bureau (HHS), Child Welfare Information Gateway, & FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (2009)
Highlights strategies that can strengthen families by promoting key factors that prevent child abuse and neglect. Includes resources for workers to share with parents and strategies to promote community awareness of these key protective factors.
Protective Factors Survey
FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (2008)
Offers a self-administered survey for use with caregivers receiving child maltreatment prevention services, measuring protective factors in five areas: family functioning/resiliency, social support, concrete support, nurturing and attachment, and knowledge of parenting/child development. The website includes the tool and a user manual.
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Advancing Child Abuse and Neglect Protective Factors: The Role of the Early Care and Education Infrastructure (PDF - 730 KB)
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2003)
Examination of programs that emphasize family strengths and protective factors, specifically support for parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete assistance, and the social and emotional competence of children.
Birth to Five Policy Alliance
Promotes policy ideas that support families in their parenting role and ensure positive early childhood development for at-risk children and their families. Website offers information on State-by-State early childhood legislation and policies, links to news and research, and provides an online discussion forum.
The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan (PDF - 1030 KB)
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2008)
Summarizes research on childhood stress and its implications for adult health and well-being, providing violence prevention practitioners with ideas about how to incorporate information on childhood stress into their work.
Family Strengthening Policy Center
National Human Services Assembly
Offers policy briefs, news, and resources on neighborhood-based, family-centered practices and programs that contribute to family economic and social empowerment.
Protecting Children by Strengthening Families: A Guidebook for Early Childhood Programs (PDF - 2100 KB)
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2004)
Guidelines for implementing the Strengthening Families Approach, organized around seven strategies to enhance family functioning, including encouraging mutual support and networking, strengthening parenting skills, addressing family crises, referring families to services and opportunities, promoting child social and emotional development, identifying and intervening in child maltreatment, and respecting parents.
Protecting the Youngest: The Role of Early Care and Education in Preventing and Responding to Child Maltreatment (PDF - 239 KB)
National Conference of State Legislatures (2007)
Discusses policy options for States to consider to support early care and education programs in protecting young children and preventing abuse and neglect.
Risk and Protective Factors: The Child, Family, and Community Contexts
In Child Development: A Practitioner's Guide
Davies (2004)
View Abstract
Summarizes knowledge about protective and risk factors that originate with the child, his or her parents, and the broader community.
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