Risk and Protective Factors

Working with our Mental Health Consultant, New Wave Connections has identified that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown many youth are now struggling to connect and engage with their environment and each other, resulting in poor mental health. COVID-19 has had lasting effects on youth's mental health that remains critical to address.

New Wave Connections is dedicated to encouraging youth to engage and promoting opportunities to build connections that will help to improve youths' well-being. We are doing this by identifying risk factors and targeting them by implementing protective factors!

Risk Factors

A risk factor can be defined as “a characteristic at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precedes and is associated with a higher likelihood of problem outcomes.”

- youth.gov

Loss of close friendships and relationships

The loss of friendships and relationships can have a massive affect on one's mental health. These effects can drive one into a state of negative mental health.

Friendships and relationship tie closely into interconnectivity as well. Friendships and relationships are the base of interconnectivity and engagement amongst youth. Losing friendships and/or relationships allows youth to feel lonely, isolated, and sometimes even worthless. These resulting thoughts and feelings can lead to negative mental health, turning these losses into a huge risk factor in terms of mental health.

Anxiety

Anxiety can be a very severe risk factor when it comes to mental health. It can range from smaller amounts of stress and anxiety from school all the way to severe chronic anxiety.

Youth, especially post-COVID-19, face increased amounts of anxiety. There is anxiety about school, social-life, the future, and so much more. Interconnectivity and engagement amongst youth can help combat anxiety, but not many believe it works. Or, they refuse to try it. When anxiety builds up in youth it can result in chronic anxiety, can lead to depression, isolation, and so much more. All of this can be detrimental to one's mental health. Thus, making it a risk factor.

Poor social skills and communication

Poor social skills and communication can very easily become a risk factor when it comes to mental health. Communication and social skills are crucial when it comes to mental health as they are the main course of identifying mental health issues.

Without adequate communication or social skills, it is very possible for one not to be understood well enough, or their struggles overlooked. Another major portion of this risk factor is how poor social skills and communication can result in miscommunication - a huge area allowing for lies, judgement, and other aspects contributing to poor mental health. All of this combined proves poor social skills and communication as a major risk factor for negative mental health.

Low commitment and achievement in school

Low commitment to and achievement in school can be quite stressful for youth. With all the pressures in our world today, not excelling in your education can be a huge risk factor towards mental health.

Low commitment to school can easily result in low achievement in school. Youth nowadays have a lot of pressure to perform well academically. These pressures often lead to a loss of interconnectivity and isolation, which may sometimes produce good results in school, but can also easily lead to burnout. It is an ongoing circle which comes back to low commitment and achievement in school, which can result in negative mental health in youth.

Peer rejection (or fear of)

Youth's mental health thrives when they feel validated and acknowledged. When they feel rejected or are scared of doing something that might get them rejected, it can be a risk towards their mental health.

If a person fears rejection from their peers, they are unlikely to want to be engaged with them. As it is New Wave's goal to promote interconnectivity amongst youth, fear of peer rejection can become a barrier for someone. Fear of peer rejection can result in loss of peer engagement, resulting in isolation which results in bad mental health. This makes peer rejection, or the fear of peer rejection, a major risk factor for mental health.

Behaviours associated with isolation

Post COVID-19, interconnectivity and engagement amongst youth has gone down. Feelings of isolation can make one feel as they have no one to go to when they want and/or need help.

All of the risk factors mentioned prior relate to one major factor - isolation. Whether isolation is caused by fear of peer rejection, an inability to adequately communicate, or anything else, it all results in feelings of loneliness. All of this results in bad mental health, thus making isolation arguably one of the biggest risk factors of New Wave's campaign.

Protective Factors

Protective factors are defined as the following by youth.gov:

A protective factor can be defined as “a characteristic at the biological, psychological, family, or community (including peers and culture) level that is associated with a lower likelihood of problem outcomes or that reduces the negative impact of a risk factor on problem outcomes.”

Supporting academic achievement and development

As we know, low commitment and achievement to school can be a huge risk factor. When we support youth academically, we can help them achieve more, which can be a huge protective factor towards their mental health.

Everyone defines achievement differently. For some it is scoring well on a test and for others it is winning a debate. This develops a sense of pride, confidence, and assurance in ones self allowing youth to grow and accept themselves. NWC aims to promote opportunities to recognize self worth through quantifiable actions. Stopping self criticism by showing youth how much they are achieving and developing is a truly impactful protective factor.

Mentorship opportunities

Mentorship opportunities help combat a variety of risk factors as majority are interrelated. Mentorship can help with loneliness, (fear of) peer rejection, and more!

Striving to be a mentor for others is a way to promote self growth and development. Becoming confident in your abilities can strengthen mental health as you develop a positive self image. Not only are you affirming that you can are capable of great things, but you are also showing that you can help others do the same. The positive feedback loop is a great way to support mental wellbeing.

Families with strong social support networks and positive relationships with the people around them

A major risk factor identified is low commitment and achievement to school. A major contributor to low academic commitment and achievement is lack of parental support, or parental pressure.

This protective factor encourages open conversations, open discussions, and positive network-building amongst families. Families coming together and supporting one another no matter what - that is the goal. Family is not defined by who you are blood-related to, but rather who you choose. When families support one another and create a judgement-free zone, negative mental health can be eradicated. Thus, this protective factor.

Increasing engagement with school, peers, and more

Isolation is a huge risk factor for youth and their mental health. When we increase engagement amongst youth, we protect their mental health.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was forced into a quarentine lockdown which resulted in severed connections between youth, their peers, and their environment. Now, as we build back these connections, we must address that sometimes the greatest risk to our mental health is being alone when we need support from others. We aim to engage youth so that they don't have to be alone during their recovery. Events and opportunities that bring youth together will amplify this protective factor.

Open discussions about and surrounding positive outlooks on mental health

In today's society, there is still a huge stigma surrounding mental health. Many refuse to believe and/or accept it is an issue or that they may be dealing with negative mental health themselves - this can have a huge negative impact on mental health. Open discussions can help with education surrounding mental health and with reducing the stigma.

Often, conversations around mental health revolve around people being too weak or unmotivated to make change in their lives. But, many mental health struggles start from not being able to talk about when we are at our lowest. We should be able to share when we have a hard day, week, or year. Opening up conversations to include more than just toxic positivity creates a level of connection that is based off relatability instead of judgement.

Communities coming together to support each other

Many of the risk factors discussed above directly connect to isolation and feeling alone. Whether it be a loss of a close friendship/relationship or the aftermath of much miscommunication, it all leads to isolation.

This protective factor aims for community building. Not individuals helping each other out, rather individuals coming together to form a larger community that is always there for each other. This interconnectivity, support, and community-building can help protect against negative mental health.