The study analyzed archival data from January 1995 to September 1997 provided by the Dallas County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority. Each adolescent was required to fill out the Child and Adolescent Intake Assessment Form, the Child and Adolescent Discharge Form, the Child and Adolescent Client Registration Form, and a background diagnostic form. To determine which adolescents used drugs or alcohol, the study used the information on the Child and Adolescent Intake/Update Assessment Form provided by the adolescent. The analyses found that a combination of physical abuse, sexual abuse, family violence, and parental history of alcohol/drug use correlated with adolescent substance abuse. When ethnicity was added to the combination, it too was found to be contributory. Individuals who were either of Anglo/non-Hispanic or Hispanic origin were 1.5 times more likely to indicate drug use than were African-Americans or individuals of other ethnic groups. Maternal mother alcohol/drug use was found to be contributory with an odds ratio of approximately 1.9. These findings suggest that instead of evaluating and providing treatment only for a specific problem, health care professionals need to consider the possibility of other problems related to substance abuse. 4 tables and 29 references