Significantly, the University of Minnesota study showed that income, ethnicity and residence in a single-parent home had little impact on whether a teen would get in trouble. "The truth is that race, single-parent families and income explain very little indeed," said Dr. Robert Blum, who led the study. "Most risk and most protective factors are not restricted to a single group."

The study of 20,000 teens and their parents found that 47 percent of teens had used alcohol, including 60 percent of white students and 42 percent of black students. In addition, 26 percent of the teens said they had used or carried a weapon or saw one used against someone. "While national trends in adolescent health have shown an improvement over the last decade, we still see large numbers of adolescents involved in high-risk behavior," said Blub.

Blum said that the lesson of the report is that parents should pay more attention to their children. "Too many kids -- rich kids and poor kids -- are left to their own devices," he said. "Kids need structure to grow."

The research is published in the Dec. 1 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

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