The runaway child: psychopathology or normal quest for independence?

The treatment of runaway children or teenagers has a particular role for the family physician in managing this increasingly common "symptom". It may be an indication on one hand of healthy, independent striving and on the other hand the final desperate act of a child in an intolerable family situation. Many such situations revolve around adapting to a "new" family constellation, especially new stepfathers or boyfriends of the mothers.