The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of adolescents' father attachment, mother attachment, and social competence on the runaway impulse. The participants were 475 students in middle and high school. The questionnaire included measures of father attachment, mother attachment, social competence, and the runaway impulse. The major findings were as follows: 1) For male and female adolescents alike, both the father attachment and mother attachment affected the runaway impulse. For male adolescents, alienation from both father and mother affected the runaway impulse; for female adolescents, alienation from the father and mother, along with confidence in and communication with the mother, affected the runaway impulse. 2) Male adolescents' social competence affected the runaway impulse, and interpersonal adjustment, one aspect of social competence, affected the runway impulse. 3) For male adolescents, the father attachment had a greater effect on the runaway impulse than did any other variables, whereas for female adolescents, the mother attachment had the greater effect.