Communities represent complex organizational entities which frequently are comprised of varying racial, ethnic, and sociocultural subgroups. This diversity, which is often underestimated and at times overlooked, presents a formidable challenge to substance abuse prevention efforts. The different lifestyles exhibited by various subgroups within a community represent a range of target behaviors that must be addressed if community health promotion initiatives are to be effective. This paper describes the barriers to achieving the goals of community-based substance abuse prevention that can arise from failing to recognize socioculturally-defined subgroups. An intervention planning model, which addresses the barriers from the perspective of a communication-behavior change (CBC) theoretical framework, is presented.