Abstract
This study was conducted to examine the risk and protective factors associated with tobacco use among an adolescent population. The social development model was used to collect data from a stratified random sample of students in a southern state. Students were compared based on their self-reported tobacco use in the past 30 days. The dependent variables of interest were the risk and protective factors within the arenas of family, school, community, and peer-individual. Overall the tobacco users reported significantly higher mean scores in the risk factors and lower in the protective factors than those who did not use tobacco.