Objective. to determine if there are differences in functional family factors predictive of constitutive of risk; for health among adolescents asking for mental health care. Design: case control. Setting: urban general community, government health facilities metropolitan Santiago, Chile. Participants: adolescents seeking care for mental health problems (n: 127, age matched public schools students never asking for mental health care in: 508), and their corresponding families. Outcome measures. participants were asked to respectively fill either an adolescent or a parental version of a questionnaire on family function aspects considered to be predictive (six) or constitutive (five) of health risk. Results. adolescent heath risk factors (parents OR 0.47, p < 0.001) and less protective functional family patterns were significantly more frequently reported by subjects seeking care and their parents, particularily in family communication (adolescents OR 0.93, p < 0.002) and problem solving styles (parents OR 1 16, p < 0.002, adolescents OR 0.85, p < 0.03), and availability of extrema family resources (adolescents OR 0.87, p < 0.02).