The consequences of substance use can influence multiple domains in the lives of adolescents. It is clear that there is an urgent need to identify risk and protective factors related to the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. What is unclear is whether the risk and protective factors differ in terms of the magnitude of their association depending on the target substance. This study attempted to extend research on the links between risk and protective factors for the substances of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Participants included 271 adolescents, aged 11- to 17-years-old and their primary caregivers referred for mental health services across North Carolina. Estimates of substance use among adolescents in the study differed depending on the target substance. The study found that cigarettes were most frequently used by adolescents, while previous studies implicated alcohol as the most frequently used; adolescents who used one type of substance were more likely to also use other types of substances; there was a high frequency of substance use among adolescents with serious emotional disturbance; younger adolescents were equally likely to use marijuana as older adolescents; in terms of risk factors, the relationship between parental history of felony and frequency of substance use depended on the target substance of interest; and in terms of protective factors, parental behavioral control had the largest influence on decreasing the frequency on cigarette and marijuana use. References