NCJ Number
244500
Journal
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Volume: 43 Issue: 2, Supplement 1 Dated: August 2012 Pages: S8-S23
Date Published
August 2012
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the trends and issues regarding direct protective and buffering protective factors in the development of youth violence.
Abstract
This paper, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Expert Panel on Protective Factors for Youth Violence Prevention, examines the trends and issues regarding direct protective and buffering protective factors in the development of youth violence. The article begins with a discussion on the differences between direct protective and buffering protective factors in regards to youth violence. Direct protective factors are described as those factors that predict a low probability of violence while buffering protective factors are those factors that predict a low probability of violence in the presence of risk. The paper next discusses the different issues surrounding the research, such as the terminology used to differentiate between the two types of factors, the research designs used in the various studies, issues of causality, and definition and measurement of the outcome behavior. The paper next presents the results of a review of 112 studies that examined these protective factors. The review identified the following potential protective factors that could have a positive effect against youth violence: characteristics of the individual - intelligence/cognitive competencies, social cognitions, temperament factors, and biological factors; family factors - parent-child relationship and parenting behavior; school factors; peer factors, neighborhood and community factors; and dose-response relationships. The results of the review indicate that while a considerable amount of information has been obtained from previous research on positive protective factors that could affect youth violence, there is a great deal that could still be learned from the use of longitudinal research examining the effect of these factors on the development of youth violence. Study limitations are discussed. Figure, table, and references