Reducing the impact of risk
Risk can be neutralized by impacting the situation directly or altering exposure to it. If a person is hungry, give them some food. Parental monitoring and supervision can reduce the risk of juvenile delinquency. Additionally, not involving children directly in spousal divorce conflict lessens children's risk exposure to adverse outcomes. There are other potential methods for reducing the impact of risk. For example, if your special needs child has an unsupportive teacher, you could request that your child be moved to a classroom with a more supportive teacher.
Stopping negative chain reactions
One negative event can lead to another negative event. For instance, a female getting pregnant in high school can lead to dropping out for both parents and securing low wage jobs. However, this is not a positive step and it can be avoided. A pregnant female can stay in school, along with the male parent, join a parenting program, and obtain a support network. Taking these steps can stop the negative chain of events that could happen after teenage pregnancy. There are other negative events that can spiral, but they can be stopped. For example, being expelled from school can be followed by homework and class notes being sent home so that the student doesn't fall behind in classes.
Positive cognitive processing
Negative events are sometimes seen as positive in retrospect. This may actually be a protective factor. It is best to accept the negative, not deny it, but to focus on the positive aspects and incorporate them into your personal schema. This is usually done automatically by resilient people as the negative event is remembered years later. However, it is possibly helpful to people going through a negative experience to focus on the positive while they are going through it. This may be protective, too.