This quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory research aimed to identify and describe protective and family risk factors related to the phenomenon of drugs in adolescents' families in the community of Valparaiso, Chile. The sample consisted of 61 students enrolled in 2008 and selected through simple random sampling. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire, developed and validated by experts from five countries in the Americas. Of the adolescents, 86.9% perceived the family relations, in general, as a protective factor, highlighting great communication with parents. Tensions, health and behavior problems were found as protective factors by a small number of students who act as neutral actors, in both cases associated with alcohol and drugs consumption by some family member. As risk factors, education and parents' kind of work were appointed.
Risk Factors; Family; Adolescents
