Recent reports have shown higher rates of substance use among American Indians or Alaska Natives compared with persons from other racial ethnic groups. Among American Indian or Alaska Native youths aged 12 to 17, the rates of past month cigarette use, binge drinking, and illicit drug use were higher than those from other racial ethnic groups. This report looks at risk and protective factors for substance use among 46,310 respondents aged 12 to 17 (representing a national population of 25 million) comparing American Indian or Alaska Native youths with youths among all other racialethnic groups combined. The focus is on American Indian or Alaska Native youths and their higher levels of risk factors or lower levels of protective factors compared with youths of other races. Three categories of risk and protective factors were examined: (1) individual and peers; (2) family;and (3) school. All estimates are annual averages based on combined 2002 and 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data.