Many youth experience alcohol-related problems; however, many report that they would not use or seek out a prevention program. In order to engage youth who are drinking to utilize available resources, several issues must be addressed: the motivation to change, peer pressure or influences, and intervention approaches designed for adolescents, not adults. Adolescent interventions should be designed for optimal developmental fit and use strategies which facilitate adolescent readiness to change their behavior. In order to examine adolescent help-seeking preferences for alcohol services, this study surveyed 2,883, 9th through 12th grade students in San Diego on alcohol use, willingness to use alcohol-related resources, and factors that might influence utilization of resources. Results indicate that drinking experience was related to both likelihood to use alcohol services and preferences for specific characteristics. Several factors were identified that may impact service utilization decisions for heavier drinking adolescents, such as confidentiality, no long-term commitment, having the program at a convenient time and being able to relate to the program leader. The results highlight the importance of implementing briefer interventions in the school setting with the higher risk population. In addition, it may be important to create new treatments to match adolescent needs. References