In an epidemiological study within a general school population, 450 youngsters in public secondary school who describe themselves as runaways were compared to 11,734 youngsters who had not run away from home.
Running away from home is associated with “ psychical malaise ” and with violence, both endured and enacted; the runaway is suicide-prone, violent, delinquent ; he abuses both legal and illegal substances. The runaway seeks help and consultation, and it is necessary to find multi-focus treatments when faced with the diversity of manifestations : running away, suicide attempts, delinquency, and legal and illegal substance abuse.