Risk and Protective Factors

Our team discovered that risk and protective factors are key concepts in the field of mental health that help us understand the factors that contribute to the development or prevention of mental health problems on the levels of individual, family, and community. These factors can influence an individual's susceptibility to mental health issues and their ability to cope with challenges. Hence, they have been a central focus in our awareness campaign.

Our Three

Risk Factors

Risk factors are conditions, experiences, or characteristics that increase the likelihood of an individual developing mental health problems. Biological, psychological, environmental, social and lifestyle variables are various types of risk factors that may vary across individuals and can have varying levels of impact.

Individual: Self-Criticism

Balancing self-criticism is key. Healthy self-criticism involves self-awareness, a growth mindset, and a compassionate approach toward oneself. It's about acknowledging areas for improvement without engaging in self-destructive thoughts or behaviours. However, if self-criticism becomes overwhelming it may become detrimental to your mental well-being ; "Research in the US, Canada, Israel, and Europe converges in showing that self-criticism, as measured by very simple self-report questionnaires, contributes to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance use disorders, juvenile delinquency, physical health conditions, and even suicidality," (Shahar, 2017).

Family: Parenting Style

Parenting style plays a crucial role in shaping a child's mental health and overall well-being. The way parents interact with their children, provide emotional support, set boundaries, and foster independence can significantly impact their children's psychological development. Different parenting styles can have varying effects on children's self-esteem, resilience, emotional regulation, and ability to cope with challenges. Authoritarian, permissive, neglectful, and helicopter (overprotective) parenting are examples of common detrimental parenting styles. It is important to note that parenting styles are unique to cultures and may lead to unique mental health issues in various different cultural groups. For example, the South Asian community our team is a part of has a culture of authoritarian parenting style, leading to children losing self-esteem and developing anxiety.

Community: Socioeconomic Inequality

Socioeconomic inequality refers to the unequal distribution of economic resources and opportunities among individuals or groups within a society. The disparities in resources, opportunities, and life circumstances that result from socioeconomic inequality can create stressors (i.e. job, education, medical, financial, and food disparity) that contribute to various mental health problems like anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, social isolation, trauma and adversity. This problem is becoming increasingly relevant as, "Over the past 50 years, the highest-earning 20% of U.S. households have steadily brought in a larger share of the country’s total income," (Schaeffer, 2020).

Our Three

Protective Factors

Protective factors are conditions, experiences, or characteristics that buffer against the negative effects of risk factors and promote resilience in the face of challenges. These factors enhance an individual's ability to maintain good mental health and cope effectively. Our Month of Discovery was all about promoting our protective factors to combat the risk factors in the section above!

Individual: Self-Satisfaction

It's important to note that self-satisfaction is not about being perfect or free from challenges. It's about embracing your strengths and weaknesses, recognizing your accomplishments, and cultivating a sense of contentment with who you are and where you are in life. Practicing self-compassion, setting realistic goals, nurturing positive relationships, and focusing on personal growth can all contribute to enhancing self-satisfaction and its associated mental health benefits. On our Instagram and TikTok, we gave our community weekly reminders to take care of their own mental health and held a Zumba event to build self-esteem in members of our school and combat self-criticism. We noticed that many students were suffering with anxiety when school reopened after the pandemic. Dr. Rasha Wahid helped us understand how masks increased the probability of self-criticism amongst students and recommended group activities like Zumba to help our community establish a comfortable environment again. We were also inspired by the BeThere's 4th golden rule, "Know your role". This helped made us aware of our responsibility during our community events; we respected students' boundaries, avoided downplaying others and preaching advice constantly. Thus, our event was able to help many students overcome their anxiety and find new friends while understanding the importance of their mental health.

Family: Gratitude

Practicing gratitude involves consciously recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of your life, no matter how big or small. Regularly engaging in gratitude practices can have a profound and lasting positive impact on your mental health and overall well-being. For example, studies show that "Regular gratitude journaling has been shown to result in 5% to 15% increases in optimism and 25% increased sleep quality," and that a "Lack of gratitude is a major factor in driving job dissatisfaction, turnover, absenteeism, and burnout," (Halo, 2020). Understanding the importance of gratitude and the lack of it in our local community, we hosted events where we gave back to our community (e.g. giving back care packages to teachers). An issue we found was prevalent in our South Asian community was that many people were not fond of showing their gratitude at school. Dr. Rasha Wahid proposed the idea that this may be a result of the vastly different cultural values in the South Asian community; we were able to observe this on our campus, as students rarely had close connections with teachers and even amongst other classmates. Following the BeThere's 2nd Golden Rule, "Show you care," we decided to focus on inspiring students to show gratitude with physical actions rather than words. Eventually, during our events, we began seeing more sincere interactions within our community and an increase in optimistic attitudes.

Community: Altruism

As Martin Luther King. Jr once said, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness." This quote illustrates the social divide communities may face in the absence of altruism. The act of selflessly helping others without expecting anything in return, has been shown to have several positive effects on mental health as it gives you an enhanced sense of purpose improving self-satisfaction, and bonds communities closer together to decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation. The graph from Our World in data shows a trend where more developed nations have higher levels of altruism. Altruism is the sign of a well-developed society, conscious of mental health and consisting of motivated individuals willing to maintain a positive state of mind in their communities. As an IB school, our community values community service and promotes a benevolent attitude. Our consultant was optimistic when we proposed community volunteering events, as she viewed benevolence as integral to establishing a mentally healthy society. Following her advice, and BeThere's 3rd Golden Rule, "Hear them out," we took time to understand our community's needs, and along with local volunteers, we gave the necessary support to others (e.g. Gr.9 Orientation event).

How did we select our factors?

After completing a year of high school after the COVID pandemic, our team recognized the irreversible toll that social isolation had on self-esteem. We did not believe our school was doing enough to support students mental health, however, we did not fully understand the situation and did not know how to make a change. Dr. Rasha Wahid, our mental health consultant and PhD, helped us understand how the mental health of individual's, families, and communities were all related in a hierarchical structure. She highlighted the most important risk factors as self-criticism, parenting style, and socioeconomic inequality at each level of the hierarchy. Originating from a similar culture as our team, she was also able to provide insight on how different cultures face unique mental health issues. Through our own research and Dr. Rasha Wahid's recommendations, we found ACT and CBT to be some of the most important forms of mental health therapy that the majority of our peers were unaware of. Acknowledging the lack of mental health awareness in our community, we asked our peers what ways they would combat our risk factors; thus, we selected our protective factors.

ACT

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

ACT stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It's a type of psychotherapy that falls under the broader category of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT). ACT was developed by psychologist Steven C. Hayes in the 1980s and is grounded in the principles of functional contextualism and behaviour analysis. ACT focuses on helping individuals to accept their thoughts and feelings rather than attempting to eliminate or control them. It emphasizes the idea that struggling against or trying to avoid uncomfortable emotions can often lead to more suffering. Instead, ACT encourages people to be present in the moment and to develop psychological flexibility.

Resources

Cognitive Defusion

This involves distancing oneself from distressing thoughts and recognizing that thoughts are not facts. It helps individuals detach from their thoughts and have a more flexible relationship with them.

Acceptence

This involves being open to experiencing one's emotions, thoughts, and sensations without judgment or avoidance. It's about acknowledging what is present without trying to change it.

Present Moment Awareness

This emphasizes being fully engaged and present in the current moment rather than getting caught up in worries about the past or the future.

Self-as Context

This is the idea that people have a transcendent self that observes their experiences. It encourages individuals to identify with this observing self rather than being consumed by their thoughts and emotions.

Values Clarification

This process involves identifying what is truly important and meaningful to an individual. It helps them align their actions with their core values.

Real-time results

This refers to setting goals and taking actions that are in line with one's values, even in the face of discomfort or challenging emotions.

ACT