Identifying Social Withdrawal ( Hikikomori ) Factors in Adolescents: Understanding the Hikikomori Spectrum
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Identifying Social Withdrawal (Hikikomori) Factors in Adolescents: Understanding the Hikikomori Spectrum Yukiko Hamasaki1,2 · Nancy Pionnié‑Dax3 · Géraldine Dorard3,4 · Nicolas Tajan5 · Takatoshi Hikida6 Accepted: 15 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Hikikomori is a Japanese term for social withdrawal, ranging from complete inability to venture outdoors to preferring to stay inside. The prevalence of hikikomori is high, up to 1.2% of the Japanese population, but only few studies have examined its emergence in adolescents. Therefore, we sought to identify environmental and psycho-behavioral characteristics related to hikikomori during adolescence. Parents of middle school students who underwent psychiatric outpatient treatment for hikikomori (n = 20) and control group parents (n = 88) completed the Child Behavior Checklist to evaluate their child’s psycho-behavioral characteristics and novel scales to evaluate environmental characteristics and hikikomori severity. Scores for all eight Child Behavior Checklist subscales were significantly higher in the experimental group. Multiple regression analysis revealed that “anxious/depressed,” “somatic complaints,” “lack of communication between parents” and “overuse of the Internet” were significant predictors of hikikomori severity. These findings can help identify individuals who are at risk of developing hikikomori. Keywords Hikikomori · Social withdrawal · Adolescence · Early intervention · Mental health
Introduction Since the 1990s, social withdrawal (hereinafter referred to as hikikomori) emerged as a serious psychosocial problem in Japan [1–5]. Beginning in 2000, the number of studies Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01064-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Yukiko Hamasaki hamasaki@kyoto‑wu.ac.jp 1
Faculty of Contemporary Society, Kyoto Women’s University, 35, Kitahiyoshi‑cho, Imakumano, Higashiyama‑ku, Kyoto 605‑8501, Japan
2
Shigasato Hospital, Shiga, Japan
3
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, EPS ERASME, Antony, France
4
Université de Paris, LPPS, 92100 Boulogne‑Billancourt, France
5
Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis Laboratory, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
6
Laboratory for Advanced Brain Functions, Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
on hikikomori grew, mainly in the field of sociology [6–8]; however, in psychiatric journals, the concept was first mentioned in 2010 [1, 2, 9, 10]. The term hikikomori is often translated as “social withdrawal” internationally, but in Japanese, the term refers to both the phenomenon and to the socially withdrawn person. In recent systematic reviews, hikikomori has been defined as a 6-month or longer period of living at home and avoiding social situations and relationships, along with significant distress and impairment [1, 9]. According to epidemiological surveys, the li
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