Relationship of "risk" factors to teen substance use: a comparison of abstainers, infrequent users, and frequent users.

This study was designed for the purpose of investigating the differences between adolescent substance abstainers, infrequent users, and frequent users on risk factors for substance use related to commitment to education, peer influence, family relationships, and intrapersonal factors. Results from analyses comparing the three groups on the risk factor variables showed that teen substance abstainers and infrequent users are more similar to each other than they are similar to frequent substance users. The study provides support for the contention that preventive efforts may be more successful if targeted at clearly identified groups of problem teen substance users.