ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews research on risk and protective factors for adolescent health and wellness. We discuss varying ways to understand “healthy development” based on the cultural context, and we review aspects of physical, behavioral/mental, social, and spiritual health. Risk factors, protective factors, and developmental assets are based on individual factors and environmental/contextual factors. Communities and families can support adolescents’ ability to recover from adversity, and understanding these factors can inform intervention and prevention. Young people who experience adversity are seen as at-promise rather than at-risk, and resilience is discussed as a dynamic process. The chapter includes a vignette, reflective questions, suggestions for working with adolescents, and supplemental resources to promote critical thinking and multicultural competence.
