Risk Factors

(noun)

They are risk factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence, and power), rather than individual factors (such as behavioral risk factors or genetics) that influence the risk for a disease, injury, or vulnerability to disease or injury.

Related Terms

Examples of Risk Factors in the following topics:

  • High School Dropouts

    • Students at risk for dropout based on academic risk factors are those who often have a history of absenteeism and grade retention, academic trouble, and more general disengagement from school life.
    • Students may also be at risk for dropout based on social risk factors.
    • Sociologists tend to group dropout risk factors into different categories, including academic risk factors and school-level risk factors.
    • Academic risk factors relate to the performance of students in school.
    • School structure, curriculum, and size may increase the exposure of students to academic risk factors.

  • Violence in Schools

    • School violence is a serious problem in the United States, and attempts to explain it identify both individual and social risk factors.
    • Attempts to explain school violence have identified several individual and social risk factors.
    • Individual risk factors include a tendency to externalize problems, or "act out," as well as developmental delays, low IQ, and reading problems.
    • Social risk factors include an unstable home environment, violent neighborhoods, and certain characteristics of a school environment.
    • Recall the risk factors for school violence in the U:S. and the two types of bullying

  • Social Class

    • While gender and race play significant factors in explaining healthcare inequality in the United States, socioeconomic status is the greatest determining factor in an individual's level of access to healthcare.
    • They are risk factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence, and power), rather than individual factors (such as behavioral risk factors or genetics) that influence the risk for a disease, injury, or vulnerability to disease or injury.

  • Social Class and Health

    • While gender and race play significant factors in explaining healthcare inequality in the United States, socioeconomic status is the greatest determining factor in an individual's level of access to healthcare.
    • They are risk factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence, and power), rather than individual factors (such as behavioral risk factors or genetics) that influence the risk for a disease, injury, or vulnerability to disease or injury.

  • Social Isolation

    • Any individual from any segment of society may be socially isolated, but senior citizens are especially susceptible to the risk factors that may trigger social isolation.
    • In the past, elders were not at increased risk for social isolation because they would move in with their children.

  • Physical Health

    • Social determinants are environmental, meaning that they are risk factors found in one's living and working conditions (including the distribution of income, wealth, influence, and power), rather than individual factors (such as behavioral risk factors or genetics).
    • Social determinants can be used to predict one's risk of contracting a disease or sustaining an injury, and can also indicate how vulnerable one is to the consequences of a disease or injury.
    • For example, poorer neighborhoods tend to have fewer grocery stores and more fast food chains than wealthier neighborhoods, increasing nutrition problems and the risk of conditions, such as heart disease.

  • Homelessness

    • Homelessness is a social problem, caused by structural inequalities and lack of resources, where certain individuals are at higher risk.
    • However, individual risk factors help explain why certain individuals become homeless instead of others .
    • Economic downturns are one of many social factors that cause homelessness.
    • Family support can provide a buffer against homelessness; those who lack support are at increased risk.
    • Explain the various social factors that contribute to homelessness, including categories of high risk people

  • The Feminization of Poverty

    • Many factors place women at higher risk of poverty than their male counterparts.
    • Lone mother households, or households without a second parent or guardian, are the households with the highest risk of poverty.
    • Poor health reduced women's ability to earn income, and, thus, is a key factor increasing and perpetuating household poverty.

  • The Middle Years

    • Advanced maternal age increases the risk of a child being born with some disorders, such as Down syndrome.
    • Advanced paternal age sharply increases the risk of miscarriage, as well as Down syndrome, schizophrenia, autism, and bipolar disorder.
    • In general, life expectancy in developing countries is much lower and the risk of death at all ages is higher.
    • However, well-being involves more than merely physical factors, and middle age is not experienced as a "time of decline" for healthy people.

  • Age and Gender

    • Several factors may contribute to this.
    • Another factor that may contribute to the greater life expectancy of women is the different types of jobs men and women tend to have during their lifetimes.
    • Other biological factors likely play a role, including greater heart health among women, though how much they contribute to the greater longevity of women is not entirely clear.
    • Finally, recent studies and meta analyses reveal that two primary elements in this relationship include men's occupational risk taking combined with women's greater willingness to seek healthcare.