This study applied emotion regulation theory to examine parental communication that predicts possible markers of adolescent resilience in families of harmful versus non-harmful parental alcohol use. Parent-adolescent dyads (30 with and 30 without harmful parental alcohol use) participated in video-taped interactions rated for parents' emotion coaching and emotion dismissing communication and adolescents' emotion regulation and behavioral impulsivity. Emotion coaching was positively associated with adolescent emotion regulation and behavioral impulsivity. Emotion dismissing was only positively associated with adolescent behavioral impulsivity. Adolescents in families of harmful alcohol use demonstrated more impulsivity but also showed more emotion regulation in the presence of emotion dismissing communication. Findings suggest that dimensions of parental communication are uniquely associated with potential markers of adolescent resilience. For families of harmful parental alcohol use, results point to a need for greater consistency in parental communication behavior and efficacy in modeling desired expressions of emotions to foster adolescent resilience.