OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of psychopathology and temperament in parents of adolescents with substance use disorders (SUD). We compared the psychiatric diagnoses and temperament characteristics of parents of adolescents with SUD with parents of adolescents without SUD. METHODS Diagnostic interviews of the parents were conducted with 3 instruments: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM non-patients, Axis 1 Disorders, and Axis 2 Disorders (SCID-NP, SCID-I, and SCID-II). Temperament characteristics were evaluated with TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire), Turkish version. RESULTS Mood disorders (P = 0.010), and avoidant (P = 0.005) and paranoid (P = 0.011) personality were more frequent in mothers of adolescents with SUD than in the controls, whereas mood disorders (P = 0.011), SUD (P = 0.047), and paranoid personality (P = 0.008) were more frequent in the fathers of adolescents with SUD than in the controls. Depressive, cyclothymic, and anxious temperament scores (respectively P = 0.023, P = 0.00, and P = 0.003) were higher in mothers than in the controls, and depressive temperament (P = 0.013) scores were higher in fathers of adolescents with SUD than in the controls. CONCLUSIONS DSM Axis I and Axis II disorders were more frequent in the parents of adolescents with SUD than in the parents of adolescents without SUD. The difference in temperament characteristics exists in both groups. Familial effects have significant clinical implications for SUD in adolescents, such as individual features and peer effect.