Abstract

Objectives: Regarding the importance of young girls running away from home and its social and family consequences, present paper studies the relationship between the identity status and girls' runaway from home.

Method: Research method was descriptive and ex post facto. Convenient sampling method was used in which 20 runaway girls who were resided in Toos Well-being Centre, Mashhad were selected as well as 20 normal age and scholastic grade matched girls as their control group. Mean age was 16.9 years (SD=2.88). Second revised version of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS-II) was used to explore identity status. T-test, point-biserial correlation, Pearson correlation, and Spearman’s rank correlation were used to analyze the data.

Results: Mean scores on diffusion identity status was significantly higher than normal controls (p<0.01). A significant correlation existed also between the age and foreclosure identity status (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The less the individual experienced identity crisis and developed a lesser commitment, the more she would be prone to attempt at running away from home.