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From Cook County, MN - February 23, 2024

By Andrea Orest, Public Health Educator, Cook County Public Health and Human Services

We are all influenced by our environment every day. Some of these influences create a positive effect and some produce a negative effect. These effects can be described as Risk and Protective Factors. Risk factors increase the likelihood that a person may experience poor health while protective factors help to decrease that likelihood. Poor health outcomes could include mental health struggles or substance misuse disorder. Building up protective factors enables greater resiliency in a person. Decreasing risk factors and increasing protective factors among youth helps our community to become healthier into the future. We can be deliberate in creating an environment for kids at home, at school, and in our community that gives them a better chance of avoiding substance use.

Risk factors:

• Family history of substance use
• Favorable parental attitudes toward substance use (“Kids will be kids” or “They are going to do it anyway, so they may as well do it at home”)
• Poor parental monitoring
• Family rejection of sexual orientation or gender identity
• Association with peers that use substances
• Lack of feeling connected to peers or adults at school
• Low academic achievement
• Bullying or cyberbullying
• Childhood sexual abuse
• Mental health issues

Protective factors:

• Self-efficacy or believing in yourself
• Parental monitoring and support
• Parental disapproval of substance use
• Positive relationships
• Feeling connected to peers and adults at school
• School substance misuse education and prevention activities
• Engaging in healthy recreational activities
• Good coping skills

Watch ‘Getting Candid: Protective Factors’ from National Council for Mental Wellbeing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHwIP7l3nW0

Why is this important? Research shows that the majority of people who have a substance misuse disorder started using substances during their youth. Use during this stage has potent effects on developing brains, as complete brain development doesn’t happen until around the age of 23. One of the last areas of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex, or “adulting” section of the brain, responsible for extended reasoning, impulse control, planning, decision making, working memory, and moderating social behavior. Using substances as a young person has negative effects on the development of this area of the brain that can remain throughout the rest of a person’s life.

What can you do as a caring adult in our community? Start small and continue to remind yourself that you are doing your best to support our youth. Talk openly and honestly with the young people in your life about the long-term effects substance use has on a person at their age.  Make your stance on substance use known- youth benefit from clear expectations on behaviors and decisions.  Advocate for prevention curricula to be used in our schools and local youth programming. 

Be present and take an active role in your kids’ lives — know their friends, their hobbies, and activities — and show you are interested. Help build a stronger relationship with your child’s school. A stronger connection to school — friends, teachers, anti-bullying education — and achievement in school is an important piece of resiliency for youth. It’s ok to ask for help; mental and physical health are important for all of us. Reach out to local or regional resources if you or your child need support. Your primary medical provider or therapist are good places to start. Be a trusted adult in the community, engage youth, support their hopes and dreams, and show them they have value in community conversations and initiatives.

If you are interested in getting involved, Cook County Public Health and Human Services is launching a Substance Misuse Prevention Coalition on March 19. Contact Andrea Orest, Public Health Educator at (218) 220-5536 or [email protected] for more information on the coalition or risk and protective factors. 

For more information, contact Cook County Public Health at 218-387-3605.

County Connections is a column on timely topics and service information from your Cook County government. Cook County – Supporting Community Through Quality Public Service.