Relationship between adolescent runaway behavior and family health / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To explore the influencing factors of adolescent runaway and its correlation with family health so as to provide epidemiological evidence for future comprehensive interventions. 【Methods】 Using the quota sampling method, 1 065 adolescents aged 12-18 years old were surveyed by Questionnaire Star in 120 cities in China from July to September 2021. A well-developed electronic questionnaire was used to collect information about demographic characteristics, psychological characteristics, family health, social support, and behavior of running away from home. Univariate analysis and Logistic regression were used to explore the influencing factors of adolescent runaway and its correlation with family health. 【Results】 A total of 1 065 adolescents were investigated, among whom 334 were the only children (31.36%) and 442 were boys (41.50%). Univariate analysis revealed that 7.6% of teenagers had the experience of running away from home in the last 30 days. Participants who were ethnic minorities (P=0.031) and had education of technical school or junior college (P=0.029) and a low family income (P<0.001) were more likely to have running away behavior. Adolescents with low self-efficacy (P=0.005), depression (P<0.001), anxiety (P<0.001), and more stress had higher detection rates of runaway behavior. However, adolescents with higher family health and social support were less likely to run away from home (P<0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that compared with adolescents with low family health, adolescents with high (OR=0.16, 95% CI 0.06-0.46) and moderate (OR=0.27, 95% CI 0.14-0.55) family health had a significantly lower risk of runaway behavior. 【Conclusion】 The family is of great significance in preventing teenagers from running away from home. Parents should build a good parent-child relationship and create a happy family atmosphere to reduce the occurrence of teenagers running away from home.