or some form of severe depression.
A clearer picture of the actual numbers of runaway youth who have experienced childhood sexual abuse is offered in a study conducted by Kennedy (1991) who collected data from a center for runaway and homeless youth that provided services to over 1,000 clients during the 13 month data collection phase of the study. Of those receiving services, intake data were obtained from 100 young people who received long-term case management services. (The extent to which findings generalize to those who did not receive long-term case management cannot be known on the basis of the study).
Regarding abuse, intake data revealed that 62 percent of the teens reported multiple abuse (physical and sexual abuse) in the home, while 30 percent experienced severe neglect. Findings further showed that 53 percent of the youths receiving long-term services experienced physical abuse while 30 percent of the sample experienced sexual abuse. If these findings are used as a basis for "guestimates" about the general population of runaways, it could be that about one-third of this population has probably experienced childhood sexual abuse.
Also of interest in Kennedy's (1991) study were findings related to alcohol drinking and depression and/or suicidal feelings and behavior. In this regard, it was observed that about 81 percent of youths reported very frequent alcohol use, and 58 percent reported either considering suicide or actually attempting it.
Kennedy's findings clearly support those of Feitel, Margetson, Chamas, and Lipman, (1992) in that they show an association between runaway behavior, sexual abuse, and feelings of depression. However, they also show that teens are likely to engage in alcohol abuse.
The finding that runaway teens with a history of either general abuse and/or sexual abuse engage in destructive behaviors like alcohol abuse has also been observed in other studies. In one such study, ...