A runaway is a child or minor who has left their parents or legal guardians without permission. A person who runs away usually does so because of problems in the family. Girls run away more often than boys.
Studies suggest that most children run away for one or more of these reasons:
When the runaway children were asked in a 2007 study, half of them said they had at least one parent who abused alcohol. A third had at least one parent who was addicted to drugs.
After studying runaways in a province of Pakistan, a 2011 journal article concluded that other children gave the runaway the idea to leave home in nearly 9 out of 10 cases (89%).
The likelihood of depression among female runaways is related to family conflict and communication. Depression in male runaways is typically related to the father being an alcoholic and poor family relationships. Negative interactions within the family appear to greatly influence depressive symptoms for both genders.
According to a 2010 article, about half of the children that run away will no longer go to school. Some will become homeless.
Runaways are at a higher risk of:
