On Your Own: An Explorative Study on the Psychopathological and Psychosocial Correlates of Hikikomori Symptoms in Dutch Adolescents and Young Adults.

Abstract

Hikikomori is an extreme form of social withdrawal that has been originally described in Japan but that is emergent in many other developed and industrialized countries. The present exploratory study was conducted in The Netherlands and aimed to examine psychopathological and psychosocial correlates of hikikomori symptoms as measured with the Hikikomori Questionnaire-25 (HQ-25) in a convenience population of 122 non-clinical adolescents and young adults and 24 clinically referred young people who were suspected to suffer from autism spectrum disorder (ASD; of which 75% eventually received this DSM-5 diagnosis). The results indicated that higher levels of hikikomori symptoms were associated with higher levels of psychopathological risk factors, higher levels of loneliness as well as a more positive attitude towards being alone, and higher levels of problematic internet use. Furthermore, it was found that hikikomori symptoms were significantly higher in clinically referred participants with suspect ASD than in non-clinical participants. It can be concluded that hikikomori symptoms were present in this sample of young Dutch participants and showed theoretically meaningful relations with other psychological constructs.