A qualitative phenomenological study of high-risk adolescents, who are children of substance-dependent parents, explored the presence of subjective risk and protective factors. Nineteen adolescents were interviewed, all of whom had a father or both parents either actively dependent on psychoactive substances or recovering from substance dependence. The participants were assigned to one of two groups, based on the degree to which they maintained normative lives or had misused substances themselves. It was found that certain perceptions of the participants, concerning themselves and their parents, served as either subjective risk or protective factors, respectively. Implications for the treatment of this population are outlined.