Substance abuse among adolescents continues to be a serious problem and a national concern. Most of the research on family correlates of substance abuse has been conducted with teenage addicts and has consisted primarily of reports obtained from the substance abusing adolescent only. This study attempted to identify clusters of family variables that may be causally related to adolescent substance abuse. Data were collected from 154 parents who represented 116 families of middle and high school students identified at high risk of substance use. Family support, communication and conflict intensity, parental coping styles, substance use, health status, life stress, and attitudes towards adolescent substance use were assessed from the parental perspective. The relationship between these family variables and substance use reported by the adolescent was investigated. A statistical model was developed to more fully elaborate the precise relationships between various family characteristics and adolescent substance use. The most striking effect in these models was the combined role of parental and sibling alcohol use, supporting hypotheses about the role of modeling, facilitation, and lack of negative consequences as contributors to adolescent substance use. Findings emphasize the importance of family factors as predictors of adolescent alcohol use. (ABL)