The study aimed to research background factors and motivations for smoking and alcohol consumption among Hungarian adolescents. 501 students from Debrecen participated in the survey. Among the social variables, the best friend's smoking (EH=16.72; p<0.001) and alcohol consumption (EH=22.77; p<0.001) as well as the harmful passions of peers acted as risk factors in the sample. Among the psychological variables, high self-esteem is a risk factor (alcohol: EH=1.04; p<0.05), while shyness (alcohol: EH=0.97; p<0.01; smoking: EH=0.97; p<0.05) and the feeling of loneliness (alcohol: EH=0.96; p<0.001) also proved to be protective factors. The behavior of psychological variables is explained by the primary role of social variables. The results highlight the importance of teaching young people how to behave assertively in social situations, avoiding peer pressure, before they start using drugs for self-strengthening and coping.