ArticlePloS one2023
The impact of higher levels of autistic traits on risk of hikikomori (pathological social withdrawal) in young adults.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Joy and the Pain of Being Alone: Managing the Solitude-Loneliness (SOLO) Paradox in People High on the Autism Spectrum.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2026Review
- Failure to Launch (FTL): A Narrative Review and Call for Research.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2026Review
- Hikikomori as a culturally situated expression of neurodivergence: A two-stage international analysis.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Article
- Extreme social isolation risk is associated with story-driven, strategic and cooperative-first gameplay preferences.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Autism and Hikikomori Risk: A Link Beyond Other Psychopathologies, and Their Relationship to Loneliness and Solitude.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Autistic traits in childhood and post-traumatic stress disorder as young adults: a cohort study.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Comorbidity Between Hikikomori and Autistic Traits May Be Identified as a Phenotypical Presentation Characterized by Greater Severity.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Investigating the Overlap ofMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- On Your Own: An Explorative Study on the Psychopathological and Psychosocial Correlates of Hikikomori Symptoms in Dutch Adolescents and Young Adults.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Pathological and non-pathological hikikomori: social media use, digital engagement, and therapeutic implications.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Internet Gaming Disorder in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Case report: hikikomori syndrome in Italy and its link with autistic traits and internet gaming disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Autism Spectrum, Hikikomori Syndrome and Internet Gaming Disorder: Is There a Link?Brain sciences · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHikikomori is an extreme state of social withdrawal, originally identified in Japan but more recently recognised internationally. Many countries imposed restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic which may have had a detrimental impact on those at risk of hikikomori, specifically young adults and those with high levels of autistic traits.
aimsTo explore whether levels of autistic traits mediate the relationship between psychological wellbeing and hikikomori risk. We also looked at whether autistic traits mediated between lockdown experiences (e.g. not leaving the house) and hikikomori risk.
methods646 young people (aged 16-24) from a wide range of countries completed an online questionnaire assessing psychological wellbeing, autistic traits and experiences of lockdown for this cross-sectional study.
resultsAutistic traits mediated the relationship between both psychological wellbeing and hikikomori risk, as well as frequency of leaving the house during lockdown and hikikomori risk. Greater hikikomori risk was associated with poor psychological wellbeing, higher autistic traits and leaving the house less frequently during the COVID-19 pandemic.
conclusionsThese findings suggest similarities with Japanese hikikomori research and are consistent with suggestions that psychological wellbeing and COVID-19 restrictions are associated with increased hikikomori risk in young adults, and both associations are mediated by higher levels of autistic traits.
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