Risk factors for adolescent substance use and abuse include early variety and frequency of antisocial problems in the elementary grades, poor and inconsistent parental family management practices, and school adjustment problems such as poor academic performance and a low degree of commitment to education. Other risk factors are associated with deviance-prone peers, a low degree of social bonding to prosocial others, positive beliefs about the acceptability of substance use, and early onset of substance use. Early abuse results from experiences in the period from birth through adolescence. Early debilitating family experiences spawn other risk factors. Families, schools, and peer groups are appropriate objects for intervention, depending on the developmental stage of the child. For example, interventions which increase social bonding to prosocial peers are appropriate as youths approach and enter adolescence. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine the extent to which conduct disorders reflect constitutional differences among children, poor family management practices, inconsistent discipline, or poor communication between parents and children. Additional research is also required to determine appropriate timing of intervention strategies and the evolution of peer associations and peer influence. Prospective longitudinal research which includes repeated measures of the most strongly supported risk factors is also needed. A total of 190 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)