Comparison of key informants, parents, and teenagers for planning adolescent substance abuse prevention programs.

Surveyed 102 key informants about their knowledge of adolescent substance abuse in their community. Results were compared to findings from similar surveys administered to 402 teenagers and 266 parents in the same geographic area. Key informants matched teenagers' judgments about the prevalence of alcohol and marijuana use, but overestimated other drug use. Parents greatly underestimated all drug use. Key informants, parents, and teenagers differed on attitudes toward resources for prevention and alternatives to drug use. Implications for the use of community resources in primary prevention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)