episodes with intoxication are associated with higher sexual risks than lighter or non-binge drinking. These distinctions were not made in the current analyses due to the low variability in the frequency of alcohol use in this early developmental period, but it is possible that differing trajectories of alcohol use patterns were differentially related to sexual risk-taking. In addition, event-level analyses could provide more specific results about the role of alcohol in episodes of risky sexual behavior. Finally, marijuana use is also known to be related to sexual risk-taking (Lowry et al. 1994), and unlike alcohol, appears to be equally prevalent among African American and European American adolescents (Johnston et al. 2006). Future studies examining change in an individual’s propensity to use marijuana may identify this substance as an important predictor of risky sexual behavior for both African American and European American girls. Additional considerations for future research include assessment mode effects. For example, the interviewer-administered interview used in the current study may have yielded lower rates of use than self-administered questionnaires or computer-assisted self-interviews (Turner et al. 1998; Wright et al. 1998). Furthermore, although self-reports of substance use obtained in the context of good rapport, privacy and with the assurance
