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The Association Between Same-Sex Romantic Attractions and Relationships and Running Away Among a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescents

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Abstract

Sexual minorities are overrepresented among the runaway population, and sexual minority runaways are at greater risk for adverse health outcomes than their heterosexual peers. Our knowledge of this vulnerable population has been restricted by methodological limitations of existing studies. This study used a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents to explore the association between same-sex romantic attractions and relationships and run away behavior over a 2 year period. Results indicated that although the association between sexual orientation and running away appears to be partially attenuated by other risk factors for running away, there remains a significant positive association between same-sex romantic attractions and running away. Furthermore, youth with no romantic or sexual relationships were significantly less likely to report running away compared to youth with only opposite-sex relationships. These associations remained significant even after controlling for other risk factors.

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Notes

  1. The degrees of freedom for the Wald tests reflect the number of clusters and not the number of respondents.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Grant # R03 AA014853 (Rebecca Sanchez, PI). This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. We are grateful to Jan Hendrickson-Smith, MA, and J. Richard Udry, PhD, for development of a comprehensive variable for race, to Kathleen Mullan Harris, PhD, and Suzanne Ryan, PhD, for development of a measure of family structure. We also thank Chris Ringwalt, PhD, for his thoughtful and critical feedback on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1516 East Franklin, St. Suite 200, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516-2812, USA

    Martha W. Waller

  2. 3-C Institute for Social Development, 1901 North Harrison Ave., Suite 200, Cary, NC, 27513, USA

    Rebecca P. Sanchez

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  1. Martha W. Waller
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  2. Rebecca P. Sanchez
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Correspondence to Martha W. Waller.

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Waller, M.W., Sanchez, R.P. The Association Between Same-Sex Romantic Attractions and Relationships and Running Away Among a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescents. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 28, 475–493 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-011-0242-0

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