For this study, 67 adolescent African American and Caucasian adolescents were interviewed about their parent-adolescent conversations regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use. Analyses indicated that fewer than half of the youth had engaged in a conversation with one or more parent about ATOD use and that significantly more adolescents felt closest to and preferred talking with their mothers about risky topics than to other family members. Moreover, the results suggested that parental antidrug messages were part of the ongoing discourse of family life rather than structured in an isolated “drug talk,” as is advocated in contemporary media. This article argues for a clearer definition of the parent-adolescent conversation, discusses implications for targeting mothers as prevention agents, and introduces risksocialization theory.
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