The study hypothesized that runaways and their respective parents would report far less empathetic understanding from each other as compared to nonrunaways and their parents and that runaways and their parents would report far less positive regard than would nonrunaways and their parents. The two groups (runaways and nonrunaways) each consisted of 30 teenagers randomly matched for age, sex, family structure, and ethnicity. Four different measures contributed to the data: two separate scales on the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, the Semantic Differential, and interviews with runaways and their parents. The results from the descriptive findings show the average runaway to be female, white, middle-class, age 15, from a single-parent family, having problems at school, running away from someone or someplace, and having runaway more than twice. The findings confirmed the hypotheses. Although the nonrunaway may not feel totally understood, feeling positive regard from the parents made a critical difference in the child-parent relationship. Tables and 10 references are included.