Holliday Stephanie Brooks, Edelen Maria Orlando, Tucker Joan S
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA.
RAND Corporation, 20 Park Plaza #920, Boston, MA.
Child Adolesc Social Work J. 2017 Jun;34(3):247-258. doi: 10.1007/s10560-016-0459-z. Epub 2016 Sep 22.
Adolescent runaway behavior is associated with a host of negative outcomes in young adulthood. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that predict running away in youth.
Longitudinal data from 111 at-risk families were used to identify proximal predictors of runaway behavior over a 12-week period. On average, youth were 14.96 years old, and 45% were female. Ten percent of youth ran away during the 12-week follow-up period.
In bivariate analyses, running away was predicted by poorer youth- and parent-rated family functioning, past runaway behavior, and other problem behaviors (e.g., substance use, delinquency), but not poorer perceived academic functioning. Results of a hierarchical logistic regression revealed a relationship between youth-rated family functioning and runaway behavior. However, this effect became non-significant after accounting for past runaway behavior and other problem behaviors, both of which remained significant predictors in the multivariable model.
These findings suggest that youth who run away may be engaged in a more pervasive pattern of problematic behavior, and that screening and prevention programs need to address the cycle of adolescent defiant behavior associated with running away. Recommendations for clinical practice with this at-risk population are discussed.
青少年离家出走行为与成年早期的一系列负面结果相关。因此，了解预测青少年离家出走的因素很重要。
来自111个高危家庭的纵向数据被用于确定12周内离家出走行为的近端预测因素。青少年平均年龄为14.96岁，45%为女性。在12周的随访期内，10%的青少年离家出走。
在双变量分析中，离家出走行为可由青少年和家长评定的较差家庭功能、过去的离家出走行为以及其他问题行为（如物质使用、犯罪）预测，但不能由较差的学业功能感知预测。分层逻辑回归结果显示青少年评定的家庭功能与离家出走行为之间存在关联。然而，在考虑过去的离家出走行为和其他问题行为后，这种效应变得不显著，这两者在多变量模型中仍是显著的预测因素。
这些发现表明，离家出走的青少年可能陷入了更普遍的问题行为模式，筛查和预防项目需要解决与离家出走相关的青少年违抗行为循环。讨论了针对这一高危人群临床实践的建议。
