Church, Family & Community Protective Factors
Current literature related to Church, Family and Community Protective Factors can be found below.
"Protective factors enhance resilience and act as a buffer against stress, trauma, or adverse experiences. These factors do not merely reduce risk but actively foster healthy development."
Citation: Bjørndal LD, Chen Y, Lu D, et al. Stress Resilience and Risk of Psychiatric Disorders After Childhood Bereavement. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(7):e2519706. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.19706
Key Points
Question: How does stress resilience affect the association between childhood bereavement (loss of parent or siblings) and psychiatric disorder (depression, anxiety, substance abuse disorder) risk?
Measurement of stress resilience: Stress resilience was measured based on an interview conducted by a trained psychologist, which was aimed to assess coping ability among conscripts with regards to various aspects of military service. The interview included assessments of previous conflicts, adjustment problems, and emotional stability. Stress resilience was assessed using a stanine scale (a 9-point scale with a normal distribution and a standard deviation of 2) and this score was dichotomized as low (1-3) and high (4-9)..
Findings: In this cohort study of 1 733 085 individuals, childhood bereavement was associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorders, and this association was partly mediated by stress resilience. Higher resilience reduced the effect of loss trauma by:
1. 16.6% for depression
2. 19/4% for anxiety
3. 10.6% for substance abuse disorder
Notes from Duane McBride: These findings suggest that altered (increasing) stress resilience may be a mechanism through which loss of a parent or sibling in childhood is associated with risk of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. Much of the IPA research has focused on resilience and these data support our findings on the value of increasing resilience