In an attempt to understand adolescent recruitment patterns and utilizing mentoring data from a substance abuse prevention intervention project, this study attempted to describe patterns of initial engagement in a relationship-based substance abuse prevention intervention study among African-American teens living in economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods. The study also attempted to discern both individual factors and family system factors that predicted these patterns. The sample consisted of 99 African-American adolescents. The study used the measures of recruitment effort, enrollment, individual factors, and family system factors. Study highlights include: (1) on average, it took approximately six contacts before an adolescent enrolled in the study and (2) adolescents’ attitudes towards substance usage and parents’ report of the degree of conflict at home were predictors of ease of enrollment. Study limitations are discussed and future research was recommended in discerning the dynamic processes involved in causing young people to participate in prevention intervention projects. References