Communication about values is one of the primary means by which parents socialize their children (Moore, Peterson, & Furstenberg, 1986); parents choose what messages and values to communicate to their children, and how and when to deliver them. Research has shown that parents can play an important role in adolescents’ sexual health decision making through their parent-teen relationships, parenting practices, and communication about sex and sexual risk (Aspy et al., 2007; Dittus, Miller, Kotchick, & Forehand, 2004; Hutchinson, Jemmott, Jemmott, Braverman, & Fong, 2003). Parent-child communication is unique because discussions can be continuous and ongoing, congruent with experiences, and immediate (these conversations can occur as a child has questions, or in anticipation of a child’s needs, rather than in the formulaic program of school-based sex education) (P. Dittus et al., 2004). In particular, strong parent-child communication leads to better contraceptive use and lower incidence of sexual risk behaviors (DiIorio, Kelley, & Hockenberry-Eaton, 1999; Weinman et al., 2008). Previous studies have also shown that adolescents’ perceptions of parental attitudes toward sex and condom use are associated with adolescents’ own attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (Hutchinson & Montgomery, 2007; Jaccard, Dittus, & Gordon, 1998). Data presented here were collected at a large, public university in the mid-Atlantic via anonymous, online surveys of undergraduate students. Examined variables include family communication about sex, measured by the Youth Asset Survey (YAS) (Oman et al., 2002); students’ attitudes about sex, measured by the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale (BSAS) (C. Hendrick, Hendrick, & Reich, 2006); students’ self-reported level of sexual activity (including age at first sex and number of lifetime partners); and students’ sexual risk behaviors (lack of contraceptive use, infrequency of condom use, use of alcohol or drugs before sex, and lack of HPV vaccine compliance). Preliminary bivariate analyses (n=473) were conducted on some of the variables of interest. Students who reported higher levels of family-based sex education were significantly more likely ever to have had oral sex (X2 = 4.734, p < 0.05), ever to have had vaginal sex (X2 = 3.373, p < 0.1), and to have had 4 or more sexual partners (X2 = 7.445, p < 0.01). Students who reported more extensive family communication about sex were also significantly more likely ever to have had oral sex (X2 = 4.385, p < 0.05) or to have had vaginal sex (X2 = 5.833, p < 0.01), and to have had 4 or more sexual partners (X2 = 6.959, p < 0.01). Students reporting higher levels of family sex education (X2 = 28.648, p < 0.001) and higher levels of family sex communication (X2 = 10.420, p < 0.01), were also significantly more likely to have received the HPV vaccine. Subsequent analyses will further examine the causal relationship between family sex education, family sex communication, and student sexual behaviors, and the potential mediating effect of students’ sex attitudes on the relationships between family sex communication and student sexual activity and sexual risk. We know that parents can exert great influence on their children’s attitudes and behaviors; what is less well understood are the processes through which this influence occurs. While some parents may advocate for abstinence as the only viable option for their teens, others may allow teens more autonomy in their decision-making, and others may not broach the topic at all (Carlson & Tanner, 2006). Further research is needed in order to identify the processes through which family communication of attitudes about sex may influence adolescents’ own attitudes as well as their sexual risk and protective behaviors, with the goal of better equipping adolescents to make informed, intentional decisions about their sexual activity.