One of the two models posits that separate elements compose each set of risk and resiliency factors, and the other model posits that a single factor can be either a risk or a resiliency factor, depending on, for example, whether it is present (resiliency) or absent (risk). In order to test the models, a survey was administered to 995 seventh grade students (57 percent female) in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The testing measured the independent variables of gender and ethnicity, risk and resiliency, family stressors, religiosity, parental drinking behavior, relationship with parents, parental permissiveness, and neighborhood safety. Six outcome variables operationalized substance use. Results of the testing of these models supported the model in which risk and resiliency were discrete sets of factors and demonstrated that overall resiliency factors played a larger role than risk factors in substance use and drug resistance processes; however, gender proved to be an important moderator of these effects. For adolescent males, resiliency had an indirect effect on overall substance use through age of first use, and risk had a direct effect on overall substance use. For adolescent females, resiliency had a direct effect on overall substance use, and risk had an indirect effect through age of first use. This indicated that although early interventions were important for both genders, resiliency factors must be addressed before initiation of substance use for males. Findings did not differ substantially across ethnicity, although the small African-American sample size may have limited power to detect differences. 4 tables, 5 figures, and 44 references