Family functioning in girls attempted to escape from home versus those with no such attempt in Isfahan city in 2006

The purpose of this study was to compare family functioning in home-escaping and non home-escaping girls in Isfahan. Method and Material: This was a survey executed on all 31 girls who had referred to the Isfahan Social Emergency Center (SEC) by the police and/or the court due to an attempt for escaping from home in the spring and the summer of 2006. The control group consisted of 31 university girl students studying in one of the Islamic Azad universities. Both groups were selected through convenient sampling. Bloom's Family Functioning Test (FFT) was administered to participants of both groups. Data was analyzed using ANOVA test. The two groups showed significant differences in the mean scores of Family Cohesion, Family Sociability, External Locus of Control, Conflict, Family Idealization, Expressiveness, Democratic Family Style, Laissez-Faire Family Style and Authoritarian Family Style (P < 0.05). Family of escaping girls are identified with characteristics such as having less family and social close relationships, a sense of inability to control events, conflictual family interactions, too hard or too soft family rules, family member's less contribution in decision making, a lower sense of pride about their own family and a lower rate of emotional and mental expressiveness.