Abstract
Hikikomori, a form of severe social withdrawal more than 6 months, has increasingly become a crucial issue especially among adolescents. Loneliness, avoidant personality, Japanese culture-related attachment style (“amae”), and difficulty in expressing emotions are suggested to be related to hikikomori. However, deeper psychological aspects have not been well clarified. The Rorschach test is one of the most popular psychological assessment tools to evaluate deeper personality traits. The Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) has been established as the most reliable scoring method. Until now, no CS research has been conducted focusing on hikikomori. Therefore, we herein conducted a pilot case–control study using CS in clinical cases with and without hikikomori condition. Participants were recruited from the Mood Disorder/Hikikomori Clinic at Kyushu University Hospital. Twenty-two patients with hikikomori (HK patients) and 18 patients without hikikomori (non-HK patients) participated in the present study. All the 40 participants conducted the self-report Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) personality questionnaire and CS. Regarding the SCID-II personality questionnaire, various personality traits including passive aggressive trait were significantly higher in HK patients. Among CS variables, HK patients showed higher scores on FC (Form Color) and SumT (total number of texture-related responses). In addition, frequency of SumT was higher in HK patients. The present results suggest that persons with hikikomori are more likely to express emotions indirectly and expect others to presume their feelings and thoughts. Persons with hikikomori may also have difficulty in becoming independent emotionally from primitive dependence and attachment on significant others. Further investigations with larger samples are warranted for validation.
Highlights
Hikikomori, a form of severe and prolonged social withdrawal, began to garner attention in Japan especially after the publication of Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End by a psychiatrist/ psychopathologist, T
We recruited 22 clinical cases who met the definition of hikikomori (a 6-month or longer period of time spent mostly at home; hereafter referred to as “HK patients”) and 18 clinical cases without hikikomori condition in their present and previous history
Many hikikomori sufferers are known to begin to withdraw from society at their adolescence; we believe that analysis of the data using the present HK patients provides us valuable knowledge in the understanding of the psychopathology of hikikomori with adolescent problems
Summary
Hikikomori, a form of severe and prolonged social withdrawal, began to garner attention in Japan especially after the publication of Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End by a psychiatrist/ psychopathologist, T. Hikikomori is regarded as a crucial sociocultural issue especially among adolescents [1,2,3]. Our previous case study has suggested the presence of persons with hikikomori who have adolescent mentalities even after the age of adolescence [4]. Even though persons with hikikomori may be past the age of so-called adolescence, it is important to consider their problems as adolescent issue. Previous research has revealed that the majority of cases with hikikomori condition are comorbid with psychiatric disorders. Previous studies have suggested psychological and behavioral features of hikikomori such as Japanese culture-related attachment style (“amae”) and difficulty in expressing emotions [8]; deeper psychological and personality aspects have not been well clarified
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