This study was an examination of the possible mechanisms of risk among adolescents (n = 55) exposed to the stress associated with the diagnosis of cancer in a parent. Girls whose mothers had cancer reported significantly more anxious-depressed symptoms than girls whose fathers were ill or boys whose mothers or fathers had cancer. Increased family responsibilities and the use of ruminative coping were examined as possible mechanisms leading to increased distress in girls with ill mothers. Although girls reported the use of more ruminative coping, rumination did not account for the impact of maternal cancer on girls' distress. Girls whose mothers were ill reported more stressful events reflecting family responsibilities. Furthermore, family responsibility stress fully accounted for the interaction of gender of the ill parent and gender of the adolescent in predicting anxious-depressed symptoms.