NCJ Number
94039
Journal
Adolescence Volume: 19 Issue: 73 Dated: (Spring 1984) Pages: 63-75
Date Published
1984
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A study of the interpersonal relationships between runaways and nonrunaways and their parents found that more empathetic understanding and positive regard existed between the nonrunaways and their parents than between the runaways and their parents.
Abstract
The study hypothesized that runaways and their respective parents would report far less empathetic understanding from each other as compared to nonrunaways and their parents and that runaways and their parents would report far less positive regard than would nonrunaways and their parents. The two groups (runaways and nonrunaways) each consisted of 30 teenagers randomly matched for age, sex, family structure, and ethnicity. Four different measures contributed to the data: two separate scales on the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, the Semantic Differential, and interviews with runaways and their parents. The results from the descriptive findings show the average runaway to be female, white, middle-class, age 15, from a single-parent family, having problems at school, running away from someone or someplace, and having runaway more than twice. The findings confirmed the hypotheses. Although the nonrunaway may not feel totally understood, feeling positive regard from the parents made a critical difference in the child-parent relationship. Tables and 10 references are included.