Example article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7525110/
find a topic relate to above article.
Strong Assignments Will:
- Be 500 – 750 words (2-3 pages double spaced)
- Single or double-spaced
- Include at least one “metanalysis” (unless we agree on using a smaller study because of your topic) published in an academic journal.
- Include an introductory paragraph with the citation, details about why this issue is important to the writer (personally and/or professionally/as a community member)
- Thoroughly summarize the research, including specific findings in the Results/Discussion section of the research study
- Identify an action step in at least three *different* categories of the Ecological Systems Theory (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem)
- Include a last paragraph (aka “a conclusion”) that states what you think should be researched next. Often metaanalyses include suggestions for other research that should be done.
Being a parent can be a very rewarding and
joyful experience. But being a parent can
also have its share of stress. Parenting stress
is caused by the pressures (stressors) that are
placed on parents personally and in relation to
their child:
• typical events and life changes (e.g., moving
to a new city or not being able to soothe a
crying baby)
• unexpected events (e.g., losing a job
or discovering your child has a medical
problem)
• individual factors (e.g., substance abuse or
traumatic experiences)
• social factors (e.g., relationship problems or
feelings of loneliness and isolation)
• community, societal or environmental
conditions (e.g., persistent poverty, racism or
a natural disaster)
Numerous researchers have concluded that
how parents respond to stressors is much more
important than the stressor itself in determining
the outcomes for themselves and their children.
Parents are more likely to achieve healthy,
favorable outcomes if they are resilient.
Resilience is the process of managing stress
and functioning well even when faced with
challenges, adversity and trauma.
Some stressors parents face can be managed
easily so that problems get resolved; for
example, calling a relative or friend to pick-up
a child from school when a parent is delayed.
But some stressors cannot be easily resolved.
For example, parents cannot “fix” their child’s
developmental disability, erase the abuse they
suffered as a child or be able to move out
of a crime-plagued neighborhood. Rather,
parents are resilient when they are able to
call forth their inner strength to proactively
meet personal challenges and those in relation
to their child, manage adversities, heal the
effects of trauma and thrive given the unique
characteristics and circumstances of their family.
Demonstrating resilience increases parents’
self-efficacy because they are able to see
evidence of both their ability to face challenges
competently and to make wise choices about
addressing challenges. Furthermore, parental
resilience has a positive effect on the parent,
the child and the parent-child relationship. By
managing stressors, parents feel better and
can provide more nurturing attention to their
child, which enables their child to form a secure
emotional attachment. Receiving nurturing
attention and developing a secure emotional
attachment with parents, in turn, fosters the
development of resilience in children when they
experience stress.
Sometimes the pressures parents face are so
overwhelming that their ability to manage stress
is severely compromised. This is the case with
parents who grew up in environments that
create toxic stress. That is, as children, they
experienced strong, frequent and prolonged
adversity without the buffering protection
of nurturing adult support. As a result, these
parents may display symptoms of depression,
anxiety, or other clinical disorders that inhibit
their ability to respond consistently, warmly and
sensitively to their child’s needs. For example,
depressive symptoms in either mothers or
fathers are found to disrupt healthy parenting
practices so that the child of a depressed
parent is at increased risk of poor attachments,
maltreatment and poor physical, neurological,
social-emotional, behavioral and cognitive
outcomes. However, numerous research studies
show parents can be helped to manage clinical
symptoms and reactions to their own histories
of poor attachments and trauma, to protect
children from adversity and trauma as best they
can and to provide more nurturing care that
promotes secure emotional attachment and
healthy development in their children.
All parents experience stress from time-to-
time. Thus, parental resilience is a process that
all parents need in order effectively manage
stressful situations and help ensure they and
their families are on a trajectory of healthy,
positive outcomes.
Parental
resilience
Protective & Promotive Factors
1oF 5
PARENTAL RESILIENCE: ACTION SHEET
Your role
Your daily interactions with parents can help them to build their resilience and their belief in themselves
as parents and capable decision-makers. You can:
• Projecting a positive and strengths-based approach to all families
• Support parents as key decision-makers for their families and provide opportunities for decision-
making that affects the program or community
• Encourage parents to take care of themselves, particularly during stressful times
• Normalize the fact that parenting is stressful and help the parent plan proactively about how to
respond to stressful parenting situations
• Validate and support good decisions
Questions to ask
• Where do you draw your strength?
• How does this help you in parenting?
• What are your dreams for yourself and family?
• What kind of worries and frustrations do you deal with during the day? How do you solve them?
• How are you able to meet your children’s needs when you are stressed?
• How does your spouse, partner, or closest friend support you? When you are under stress, what
is most helpful?
• What do you do to take care of yourself when you are stressed?
What to look for
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to cope with stress
• Self-care strategies
• Help-seeking behavior
• Receiving mental health or substance abuse services if needed
• Not allowing stress to impact parenting
Activities to do with parents
• Ask the parent to write down their self-care strategies and ensure that they are taking time for
self-care each day.
• Ask the parent to identify situations they find stressful and make a plan in advance for how they
will keep themselves calm and centered in these circumstances.
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY • 1575 EYE STREET NW, STE. 500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20005
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http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
People need people. Parents need people
who care about them and their children, who
can be good listeners, who they can turn to
for well-informed advice and who they can
call on for help in solving problems. Thus, the
availability and quality of social connections are
important considerations in the lives of parents.
Parents’ constructive and supportive social
connections—that is, relationships with family
members, friends, neighbors, co-workers,
community members and service providers—
are valuable resources who provide:
• emotional support (e.g., affirming
parenting skills or being empathic and non-
judgmental)
• informational support (e.g., providing
parenting guidance or recommending a
pediatric dentist)
• instrumental support (e.g., providing
transportation, financial assistance or links to
jobs)
• spiritual support (e.g., providing hope and
encouragement)
When parents have a sense of connectedness
they believe they have people who care about
them as individuals and as parents; they feel
secure and confident that they have others
with whom they can share the joy, pain and
uncertainties that come with the parenting
role; they seek timely assistance from people
they have learned to count on when faced with
challenges; and they feel empowered to “give
back” through satisfying, mutually beneficial
relationships. Several research studies have
demonstrated that—for both mothers and
fathers—high levels of emotional, informational,
instrumental or spiritual support is associated
with positive parental mood; positive
perceptions of and responsiveness to one’s
children; parental satisfaction, well-being and
sense of competence; and lower levels of anger,
anxiety and depression.
Conversely, inadequate, conflicting or
dissatisfying social connections can be the
source of parental stress, rather than a buffer. For
example, maternal and paternal grandparents
may be very willing sources of informational and
instrumental support to new parents, but their
advice and manner of caregiving may be at odds
with the new parents’ beliefs and preferences.
At the extreme end of the continuum of poor
social connections are social isolation (i.e., the
lack of available and quality relationships) and
loneliness (i.e., feelings of disconnectedness
from others). Social isolation is a risk factor
consistently associated with disengaged
parenting, maternal depression and increased
likelihood of child maltreatment. Similarly,
loneliness may be a major stressor that inhibits
parents’ ability to provide consistent, nurturing,
responsive care to their children.
It may seem that increasing the number
of people who could provide constructive
social support to parents would be the
“cure” for social isolation and loneliness.
Providing opportunities for parents to create
and strengthen sustainable, positive social
connections is necessary but alone is not
sufficient. Parents can feel lonely and isolated
even when surrounded by others if relationships
lack emotional depth and genuine acceptance.
Thus, parents need opportunities to forge
positive social connections with at least
one other person that engender emotional,
informational, instrumental or spiritual support
so that meaningful interactions may occur in a
context of mutual trust and respect.
Constructive and supportive social connections
help buffer parents from stressors and support
nurturing parenting behaviors that promote
secure attachments in young children. Therefore,
parents’ high quality social connections are
beneficial to both the adults and the children.
social
connections
Protective & Promotive Factors
2 oF 5
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS: ACTION SHEET
Your role
You can help parents to think critically about their social network and how they could utilize it more
effectively, as well as the skills and tools they need to expand it. The following strategies may assist you
in engaging families in developing social connections:
• Model good relational behavior and use your interactions with families as an opportunity to help
parents develop stronger relational skills
• When engaging the family’s broader network in teaming or other supports, be sensitive to the
quality of existing relationships and help the family identify supporters in their network who will
contribute positively
• Invite parents to events where they can get to know each other – with or without their kids – and
reach out especially to those parents that may be socially isolated
• If there are specific issues that serve as barriers for the family in developing healthy social
connections such as anxiety or depression, encourage the family to address them
Questions to ask
• Do you have friends or family members that help you out once in a while?
• Are you a member of any groups or organizations?
• Who can you call for advice or just to talk? How often do you see them?
• What kind of social support do you need?
• Do you find it easy or challenging to make friends? If it is challenging, what specific things
represent a barrier for you?
• What helps you feel connected?
What to look for
• Does the parent have supportive relationships with one or more persons (friends, family,
neighbors, community, faith- based organizations, etc.)?
• Can the parent turn to their social network for help in times of need (for instance, when they need
help with transportation, childcare or other resources)?
• Is the parent willing and able to accept assistance from others?
• Does the parent have positive relationships with other parents of same-age kids?
• Does the parent have skills for establishing and maintaining social relationships?
• Does the parent provide reciprocal social support to peers?
Activities to do with parents
• Work with the parent to develop an EcoMap showing the people and institutions that are sources
of support and/or stress in his or her life.
• Role play with the parent to help them practice skills in approaching another parent to develop a
friendship. Have the parent choose a realistic scenario such as starting a conversation at a
school event, on the playground or at a place of worship.
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY • 1575 EYE STREET NW, STE. 500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20005
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http://www.cssp.org/
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
No parent knows everything about children
or is a “perfect parent.” An understanding of
parenting strategies and child development
helps parents understand what to expect and
how to provide what children need during
each developmental phase. All parents, and
those who work with children, can benefit from
increasing their knowledge and understanding of
child development, including:
• physical, cognitive, language, social and
emotional development
• signs indicating a child may have a
developmental delay and needs special help
• cultural factors that influence parenting
practices and the perception of children
• factors that promote or inhibit healthy child
outcomes
• discipline and how to positively impact child
behavior
Gaining more knowledge about child
development and developing greater skills in
parenting are particularly important given the
recent advances in the fields of neuroscience,
pediatrics and developmental psychology.
Scientists in these fields have provided much
evidence of the critical importance of early
childhood as the period in which the foundation
for intellectual, social, emotional and moral
development is established. Furthermore,
numerous research studies show this foundation
is determined by the nature of the young child’s
environments and experiences that shape early
brain development.
Developing brains need proper nutrition,
regularly scheduled periods of sleep, physical
activity and a variety of stimulating experiences.
Developing brains also need attuned,
emotionally available parents and other primary
caregivers who recognize and consistently
respond to the needs of young children, and
interact with them in an affectionate, sensitive
and nurturing manner. Such care gives rise to the
development of a secure attachment between
the child and the adult. Young children with
secure attachments develop a sense of trust, feel
safe, gain self-confidence and are able to explore
their environments because they feel they have a
secure base.
Numerous longitudinal studies have
demonstrated that parental behaviors that lead
to early secure attachments—and which remain
warm and sensitive as children grow older—lay
the foundation for social-emotional, cognitive
and moral competencies across developmental
periods. For example, when a young child
solicits interaction through babbling or facial
expressions and a parent responds in a similar
manner, this type of parent-child interaction
helps to create neural connections that build
later social-emotional and cognitive skills.
In addition, advances in brain research have
shown that parental behaviors that forge secure
emotional attachments help young children learn
to manage stress. Secure attachments can offset
some of the damage experienced by highly
stressed young children as a result of trauma
(e.g., maltreatment or exposure to violence.)
In contrast, parental care that is inconsistent,
unresponsive, detached, hostile or rejecting
gives rise to insecure attachments. Young
children who experience insecure attachments
display fear, distrust, anxiety or distress and are
at risk for long-term adverse effects on brain
development including developmental delays,
cognitive impairments, conduct problems,
psychopathology and relationship challenges.
For example, young children who have limited
adult language stimulation and opportunities
to explore may not fully develop the neural
pathways that support learning.
What parents do and how they treat children is
often a reflection of the way they were parented.
Acquiring new knowledge about parenting and
child development enables parents to critically
evaluate the impact of their experiences on their
own development and their current parenting
practices, and to consider that there may be
more effective ways of guiding and responding
to their children. Furthermore, understanding
the mounting evidence about the nature and
importance of early brain development enables
both parents and those who work with children
to know what young children need most in
order to thrive: nurturing, responsive, reliable
and trusting relationships; regular, predictable
and consistent routines; interactive language
experiences; a physically and emotionally safe
environment; and opportunities to explore and
to learn by doing.
Protective & Promotive Factors
3 oF 5
Knowledge of Parenting
and Child develoPment
KNOWLEDGE OF PARENTING AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT: ACTION SHEET
Your role
Each contact you have with the family provides an important opportunity to link them to parenting resources, provide child
development information and model and validate effective caregiving. You can:
• Connect parents to parenting education classes or home visiting as appropriate for their situation
• Model appropriate expectations for the child
• Engage parents in dialogue when their expectations are not in line with the child’s developmental phase
• Underline the importance of nurturing care to help the parent in valuing the importance of their own role
• Provide “just in time” parenting education: crucial information a parent needs at the time when parenting issues
arise
• Help the parent identify a series of trusted informants that they can turn to when they need parenting information
Questions to ask
• What does your child do best and what do you like about your child?
• What do you like about parenting? What do you find challenging about parenting?
• How have you learned about parenting skills?
• How do you continue to learn about your child’s development?
• What has helped you learn about yourself as a parent?
• Are there things that worry you about your child’s development or behavior?
• Have other people expressed concern about your child?
What to look for
• Does the parent understand and encourage healthy development?
• Is the parent able to respond and manage their child’s behavior?
• Does the parent understand and demonstrate age-appropriate parenting skills in their expectations, discipline,
communication, protection and supervision of their child?
• Does the child respond positively to the caregivers’ approaches?
• Does the parent understand and value their parenting role?
• Does the parent have a reliable source for parenting information when issues come up?
• Does the parent know how to encourage social-emotional development and apply a range of age-appropriate
disciplinary strategies?
• Is the parent involved in their child’s school, preschool or other activities?
• Does the parent understand the child’s specific needs (especially if the child has special developmental or
behavioral needs)?
Activities to do with parents
• Ask the parent what their hopes and dreams are for their child(ren). Discuss any worries the parent has about
ensuring those hopes and dreams are met. Then discuss what the parent is doing today (or wants to do) to help
achieve those hopes and dreams.
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY • 1575 EYE STREET NW, STE. 500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20005
WWW.CSSP.ORG WWW.STRENGTHENINGFAMILIES.NET
http://www.cssp.org/
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
All parents need help sometimes—help with
the day-to-day care of children, help in figuring
out how to soothe a colicky baby, help getting
to the emergency room when a bad accident
happens, help in managing one’s own temper
when fatigued or upset. When parents are faced
with very trying conditions such as losing a job,
home foreclosure, substance abuse, not being
able to feed their family or trauma, they need
access to concrete support and services that
address their needs and help to minimize the
stress caused by very difficult challenges and
adversity. Assisting parents to identify, find and
receive concrete support in times of need helps
to ensure they and their family receive the basic
necessities everyone deserves in order to grow
(e.g., healthy food, a safe environment), as well
as specialized medical, mental health, social,
educational or legal services.
When parents are faced with overwhelmingly
stressful conditions they need to seek help,
but for some parents asking for help is not an
easy thing to do. It may be embarrassing for
some parents because it feels like an admission
of incompetence; that they don’t know how
to solve their own problems or take care of
their family. Other parents may not seek help
because they don’t know where to go for help,
or the services needed have a stigma associated
with them such as mental health clinics and
domestic violence or homeless shelters. Thus,
parents need experiences that enable them to
understand their rights in accessing services,
gain knowledge of relevant services and learn
how to navigate through service systems.
Family and child-serving programs must clearly
communicate to parents that seeking help is not
an indicator of weakness or failure as a parent.
On the contrary, seeking help is a step toward
improving one’s circumstances and learning to
better manage stress and function well—even
when faced with challenges, adversity, and
trauma. When parents ask for help, it is a step
toward building resilience.
When parents seek help, it should be provided
in a manner that does not increase stress.
Services should be coordinated, respectful,
caring and strengths-based. Strengths-based
practice is grounded in the beliefs that:
• It is essential to forge a trusting relationship
between parents and service providers and
among service providers working with the
same families
• Regardless of the number or level of adverse
conditions parents are experiencing, they
have assets within and around them, their
family and their community that can be
called upon to help mitigate the impact of
stressful conditions and to create needed
change
• Parents have unrealized resources and
competencies that must be identified,
mobilized and appreciated
• Parents must be active participants in the
change process and not passive recipients of
services
• Parents must first be guided through, and
subsequently learn how to navigate, the
complex web of health care and social
service systems
• In addition to addressing each parent’s
individual difficulties, strengths-based
practitioners must understand—and work
to change—the structural inequities and
conditions that contribute to these difficulties
A strengths-based approach helps parents
feel valued because they are acknowledged as
knowledgeable and competent. They develop
a sense of self-confidence and self-efficacy
because they have opportunities to build their
skills, experience success and provide help
to others. Thus, access to concrete support
in times of need must be accompanied by a
quality of service coordination and delivery
that is designed to preserve parents’ dignity
and to promote their and their family’s healthy
development, resilience and ability to advocate
for and receive needed services and resources.
Protective & Promotive Factors
4 oF 5
ConCrete Support in
timeS of need
CONCRETE SUPPORT IN TIMES OF NEED: ACTION SHEET
Your role
As a professional working with families, your role is not just to provide referrals to needed services, but to
identify any barriers the families may have in accessing those services. Helping families overcome those
barriers is crucial to ensuring that their concrete needs are met. Such help may entail:
• Encouraging help seeking behavior
• Working with the family to understand their past experience with service systems and any stigma
they attach to certain services
• Helping the family to navigate complex systems by explaining eligibility requirements, filling out
forms or making a warm handoff to an individual who can help them negotiate getting access to
the services they need
• Helping the parent understand their role as an advocate for themselves and their child
• Giving parents opportunities to help meet concrete needs of other families in the program or the
community, to encourage reciprocity
Questions to ask when a family is in need
• What do you need to _________ (stay in your house, keep your job, pay your heating bill etc.)?
• What have you done to handle the problem? Has this worked?
• Are there community groups or local services that you have worked with in the past? What has
been your experience accessing their services?
• Are there specific barriers that have made it difficult for you to access services in the past?
• How does dealing with these issues impact the way you parent?
What to look for
• Is the parent open to accessing and utilizing services?
• Has the parent had positive experiences with services in the past?
• Does the parent have specific barriers (literacy, lack of transportation, etc.) that will make it
difficult to access services?
• Are there personal behavioral traits (e.g., punctuality, willingness to share personal information,
etc.) that the parent could address to more effectively utilize services?
• Does the parent try to buffer the child from the stress caused by the family’s concrete needs?
Activities to do with parents
• Ask the parent to identify one concrete need that, if met, would lighten his or her burden. Come
up with a list of at least three possible avenues to get that need met (e.g., agencies to approach,
people to ask for help, cutting back on other expenses).
• Talk to the parent about what their family’s socioeconomic status was in their childhood and what
effect that had on them. Discuss things their parents did or did not do to buffer them from the
stress of poverty, to teach them the value of money or to make sure their needs were met.
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY • 1575 EYE STREET NW, STE. 500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20005
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http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
Early childhood is a period of both great
opportunity and vulnerability. Early childhood
experiences set the stage for later health, well-
being and learning. In the past, most of the
focus was on building young children’s academic
skills in an effort to ensure they were prepared
for school. However, in recent years a growing
body of research has demonstrated the strong
link between young children’s social-emotional
competence and their cognitive development,
language skills, mental health and school
success. The dimensions of social-emotional
competence in early childhood include:
• self-esteem – good feelings about oneself
• self-confidence – being open to new
challenges and willing to explore new
environments
• self-efficacy – believing that one is capable of
performing an action
• self-regulation/self-control – following rules,
controlling impulses, acting appropriately
based on the context
• personal agency – planning and carrying out
purposeful actions
• executive functioning – staying focused on a
task and avoiding distractions
• patience – learning to wait
• persistence – willingness to try again when
first attempts are not successful
• conflict resolution – resolving disagreements
in a peaceful way
• communication skills – understanding and
expressing a range of positive and negative
emotions
• empathy – understanding and responding to
the emotions and rights of others
• social skills – making friends and getting
along with others
• morality – learning a sense of right and
wrong
These dimensions of social-emotional
competence do not evolve naturally. The course
of social-emotional development—whether
healthy or unhealthy—depends on the quality
of nurturing attachment and stimulation that a
child experiences. Numerous research studies
show that a relationship with a consistent, caring
and attuned adult who actively promotes the
development of these dimensions is essential
for healthy social-emotional outcomes in young
children. Actively promoting social-emotional
competence includes activities such as:
• Creating an environment in which children
feel safe to express their emotions
• Being emotionally responsive to children and
modeling empathy
• Setting clear expectations and limits (e.g.,
“People in our family don’t hurt each other.”)
• Separating emotions from actions (e.g., “It’s
okay to be angry, but we don’t hit someone
when we are angry.”)
• Encouraging and reinforcing social skills such
as greeting others and taking turns
• Creating opportunities for children to solve
problems (e.g., “What do you think you
should do if another child calls you a bad
name?”)
Children who have experiences such as
these are able to recognize their and others’
emotions, take the perspective of others and
use their emerging cognitive skills to think about
appropriate and inappropriate ways of acting.
Conversely, research shows children who do not
have adults in their lives who actively promote
social-emotional competence may not be able
to feel remorse or show empathy and may lack
secure attachments, have limited language
and cognitive skills and have a difficult time
interacting effectively with their peers. Evidence
shows, however, that early and appropriate
interventions that focus on social-emotional
development can help to mitigate the effects
of negative experiences in ways that lead
to improved cognitive and social-emotional
outcomes.
Social-Emotional
compEtEncE of childrEn
Protective & Promotive Factors
5 oF 5
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE OF CHILDREN: ACTION SHEET
Your role
It is important to increase parents’ awareness of the importance of early relationships and of their role in nurturing
their child’s social-emotional development by:
• Providing concrete tips and resources to parents to help them build their skills
• Modeling developmentally appropriate interactions with children that help them to recognize and manage
their emotions and build other social and emotional skills
• Connecting families to resources that can help support their children’s social-emotional development—
these might be simple (such as classes like Second Step, or books and games that help children to name
or recognize their emotions) or more intensive (such as mental health counseling)
• Staying attuned to trauma and how it impacts the child’s behaviors and relationships, including taking time
to explain and discuss children’s behavior with parents when they are “acting out” due to trauma
Questions to ask
• How is the emotional relationship between you and your child?
• How do you express love and affection to your child?
• How do you help your child express his or her emotions?
• In what situations are your child’s emotions hard for you to deal with?
What to look for
• Does the child feel safe to express emotions in the relationship with the parent?
• Is the parent emotionally responsive to the child?
• Does the parent model empathy?
• Does the parent set clear expectations and limits (e.g., “People in our family don’t hurt each other”)?
• Does the parent separate emotions from actions (e.g., “It’s okay to be angry, but we don’t hit someone
when we are angry”)?
• Does the parent encourage and reinforce social skills such as greeting others and taking turns?
• Does the parent create opportunities for children to solve problems? (e.g., “What do you think you should
do if another child calls you a bad name?”)?
Activities to do with parents
• Have the parent sketch out (or write out) an interaction with their child. Begin with an experience that
typically makes the child happy, sad, frustrated or angry. Then have the parent illustrate or describe what
the child does when he or she feels those emotions, how the parent responds and how the child responds.
Identify and talk through positive or negative patterns in the interaction.
• Ask the parent to think of an adult who they loved as a child. What was it about the relationship with that
adult that made it so important? Ask them what elements of that relationship they can replicate in their
relationship with their child(ren).
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http://www.cssp.org/
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
CSSP’S ProteCtive and
Promotive FaCtorS
cssp.org
strengtheningfamilies.net
The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) works to create new ideas and promote
public policies that produce equal opportunities and better futures for all children and
families, especially those most often left behind. The foundation of all of CSSP’s work is a
child, family and community well-being framework that includes a focus on protective and
promotive factors. Using an ecological perspective:
• protective factors are conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities or
the larger society that mitigate or eliminate risk
• promotive factors are conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities or
the larger society that actively enhance well-being
Taken together, protective and promotive factors increase the probability of
positive, adaptive and healthy outcomes, even in the face of risk and adversity.
The Strengthening Families™ and Youth Thrive™ frameworks exemplify CSSP’s
commitment to identify, communicate and apply research-informed ideas that contribute
to the healthy development and well-being of children, youth and families. As numerous
studies affirm the importance of early childhood experiences in influencing adolescent and
adult behavior, these frameworks provide a view of two interrelated phases of the lifespan
developmental continuum: Strengthening Families focuses on families of young children
(0-5 years old) and Youth Thrive on youth ages 11-26.
Parents, system administrators, program developers, service providers and policymakers
can each benefit from learning about and using the Strengthening Families and Youth
Thrive frameworks in their efforts to ensure that children, youth and families are on a path
that leads to healthy development and well-being.
The Strengthening Families
Protective Factors
• Parental Resilience
• Social Connections
• Knowledge of Parenting and
Child Development
• Concrete Support in Times of
Need
• Social-Emotional Competence
of Children
The Youth Thrive Protective and
Promotive Factors
• Youth Resilience
• Social Connections
• Knowledge of Adolescent
Development
• Concrete Support in Times of
Need
• Cognitive and Social-Emotional
Competence in Youth
- 1 Parental Resilience Action Sheet
- 2 Social Connections Action Sheet
- 3 Knowledge Action Sheet
- 4 Concrete Support Action Sheet
- 5 Social Emotional Competence Action Sheet
Parental resilience: action sheet
Your role
Questions to ask
What to look for
Activities to do with parents
Social Connections: action sheet
Your role
Questions to ask
What to look for
Activities to do with parents
Knowledge of parenting and child development: action sheet
Your role
Questions to ask
What to look for
Activities to do with parents
Concrete support in times of need: action sheet
Your role
Questions to ask when a family is in need
What to look for
Activities to do with parents
social and emotional competence of children: action sheet
Your role
Questions to ask
What to look for
Activities to do with parents
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY • 1575 EYE STREET NW, STE. 500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20005
WWW.CSSP.ORG WWW.STRENGTHENINGFAMILIES.NET
ABOUT STRENGTHENING FAMILIES™ AND
THE PROTECTIVE FACTORS FRAMEWORK
Strengthening Families™ is a research-informed approach
to increase family strengths, enhance child development
and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. It is
based on engaging families, programs and communities in
building five key protective factors:
Parental resilience: Managing stress and functioning
well when faced with challenges, adversity and trauma
Social connections: Positive relationships that
provide emotional, informational, instrumental and
spiritual support
Knowledge of parenting and child development:
Understanding child development and parenting
strategies that support physical, cognitive, language,
social and emotional development
Concrete support in times of need: Access to
concrete support and services that address a family’s
needs and help minimize stress caused by challenges
Social and emotional competence of children:
Family and child interactions that help children develop
the ability to communicate clearly, recognize and
regulate their emotions and establish and maintain
relationships
At its heart, Strengthening Families is about how families
are supported to build key protective factors that enable
children to thrive. The five protective factors at the
foundation of Strengthening Families also offer a
framework for changes at the systems, policy and practice
level – locally, statewide and nationally.
Using the Strengthening Families framework, more than 30 states are shifting policy and practice to
help programs and providers working with children and families to take everyday actions that
support parents to build their protective factors. States apply the Strengthening Families approach
in early childhood, child welfare, child abuse prevention and other child and family serving systems.
The “Pathway to Improved Outcomes for Children and Families” on the next page articulates the
core functions of Strengthening Families implementation which drive changes in program and
worker practice to support families to build protective factors and improve outcomes. The lower
graphic shows the everyday actions that can help families build each of the protective factors.
What is the
Protective Factors Framework?
Protective factors are characteristics
or strengths of individuals, families,
communities or societies that act to
mitigate risks and promote positive
well-being and healthy development.
Most often, we see them as attributes
that help families to successfully
navigate difficult situations.
A protective factors framework is an
organized set of strengths-based
ideas that are used to guide
programs, services, supports and
interventions aimed at preventing child
maltreatment and promoting healthy
outcomes.
The Strengthening Families Protective
Factors Framework from the Center
for the Study of Social Policy distills
extensive research in child and family
development into a core set of five
protective factors that everyone can
understand and recognize in their own
lives.
For more information, visit
www.strengtheningfamilies.net.
http://www.cssp.org/
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY • 1575 EYE STREET NW, STE. 500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20005
WWW.CSSP.ORG WWW.STRENGTHENINGFAMILIES.NET
http://www.cssp.org/
http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net/
- ABOUT STRENGTHENING fAMILIES™ AND The PROTECTIVE FACTORS FRAMEWORK
- What is the Protective Factors Framework?
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