Recent studies with Canadian runaway youth have questioned the prevalence of abuse experienced by teenaged runaways and the causal contribution of such abuse to runaway experiences. This investigation compared and contrasted the physical abuse experienced prior and subsequent to runaway experiences. In this sample, 86 percent of the population (74 percent of the males and 90 percent of the females) reported at least one physically abusive experience. The data reported suggest that this population of adolescents have been the victims of chronic, extreme abuse, experienced at a young age, often perpetrated by the biological parent (most often the mother), and was initiated prior to the first runaway episode. Female runaways were at greater risk than males for all types of abuse experience. Once youths left home, the physical abuse experiences decreased in frequency, but grew in severity, particularly for males. Tables, references