Question

Research suggests that the greater the number of risk factors that a youth experiences, the more likely he or she is to join a gang. It also shows that a youth’s risk for gang involvement significantly increases as he or she accrues more than two risk factors. Therefore, prevention programs that target risk factors can help mitigate youth gang involvement.

–“Risk & Protective Factors,”
Youth.Gov

Based on this passage, what can you conclude about the relationship between risk factors and gang membership?

An increase in youth risk factors and the desire to join a gang are directly related to each other.
Low self-esteem is all that is needed for a young person to be more likely to join a gang.
Risk factors have little effect on a person’s final decision to join a gang.
Prevention programs should target one specific type of risk factor to reduce gang membership.

Answer 1

An increase in youth risk factors and the likelihood of joining a gang are directly related to each other.

Explanation: The passage says more risk factors make a youth more likely to join a gang, especially once they have more than two — so there is a direct relationship between number of risk factors and gang involvement. The other choices are contradicted by the passage.