The effects of cumulative risk and protection on problem behaviors for youth in an urban school-based system of care.

The present study examined the cumulative effects of risk and protective factors on internalizing and externalizing problems for a sample of youth who were diagnosed with a severe emotional disturbance and enrolled in an urban school-based system of care. The sample included 139 Latino and African American children (ages 5-19; 65 % male) and their families. After controlling for demographic variables, the results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that cumulative risk and protection were significantly related to internalizing problem behaviors, and cumulative protection was negatively related to externalizing problem behaviors. The findings support the importance of including or increasing strength building approaches, in addition to risk reduction, in order to maximize prevention and intervention efforts for system-of-care populations.