Two intervention strategies were compared within a clinical trial: targeting parents' effective use of noncoercive family management practices (parent focus) and targeting the adolescent's self-regulation and competence in family and peer situations (teen focus). The results are reported in terms of immediate and 1-year outcomes associated with these intervention conditions, compared with control conditions. One hundred fifty-eight families of adolescents aged 11 to 14 years participated in the study, either in the parent focus group, teen focus group, combined group, self- directed change group, or quasiexperimental control group. Both focus groups resulted in immediate beneficial effects in family conflict. The parent intervention conditions also reduced school- based behavior problems. Longitudinal data indicate that the parent focus group may reduce subsequent adolescent tobacco use. Interventions that aggregated high-risk youth were least effective in stemming tobacco use and school-related problem behaviors. 5 tables, 3 figures, and 68 references