The prevalence of disabilities and maltreatment among runaway children

Objective. This research was conducted to determine the prevalence of disab ilities among abused and nonabused runaways within a hospital population (S tudy 1) and community school population (Study 2) and to identify any assoc iations between disability, maltreatment, family stress factors, academic a chievement, school attendance, domestic violence and runaway status. Method: Descriptive information was collected for maltreated and nonmaltrea ted runaways from hospital (N = 39,352; 255 runaways) and school (N = 40,21 1; 562 runaways) populations including: disability status, type of maltreat ment, family stress factors, record of domestic violence in the family, aca demic achievement and attendance. Results: The prevalence rate of disabilities among the maltreated runaways was 83.1% and 47% among the nonmaltreated runaways in the hospital sample a nd 34% and 17%, respectively, in the school sample. Children and youth with disabilities were at increased risk to become runaways in both populations . The presence of maltreatment significantly increased the association betw een running away and disability status. Children with behavior disorders, m ental retardation, and some type of communication disorder were significant ly more likely to run away than children with other disabilities. Among the maltreated runaways with and without disabilities, physical abuse and sexu al abuse were significantly associated with running away. Records of domest ic violence were more prevalent in the families of runaways with behavior d isorders and no diagnosed disability. Lower academic achievement, poor scho ol attendance, and more family stress factors were associated with maltreat ment, disability and runaway status. Conclusions: Children and youth with disabilities are unidentified and unre cognized among runaways. Professionals working with runaways and their fami lies need to be cognizant of the special needs of the population, particula rly with respect to behavior disorders, communication disabilities, and men tal retardation and reconsider current policy to routinely reunite runaways with their families when running away was precipitated by traumatagenic fa ctors within the family. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.