Prevention focused on risk and protective factors is based on a simple premise: To prevent a problem from happening, one needs to identify the factors that increase the risk of that problem developing and then find ways to reduce the risk. At the same time, one must also identify those factors that buffer individuals from the risk factors present in their environments and then find ways to increase the protection. The risk and protective factor approach is similar to the medical model for heart disease. The medical model for heart disease advances the idea that there are several factors that put adults at risk of heart disease, such as eating fatty foods and smoking. In addition, several protective factors exist that have been shown to ...