Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40290477›Full record

ReviewBJPsych international2025

The paradox of hikikomori through a transcultural lens.

Yoko Nagai, Amy Kartar, Magdalena Pfaff, Hussien Elkholy

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in BJPsych international, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Yoko NagaiClinical Neuroscience Department, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2166-3298
Amy KartarClinical Neuroscience Department, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
Magdalena PfaffClinical Neuroscience Department, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
Hussien ElkholyClinical Neuroscience Department, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2132-6336

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This article appraises cultural understanding and controversies regarding hikikomori (prolonged social withdrawal), with reference to research over the past 20 years. Initially viewed as a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, hikikomori is now recognised globally, prompting a re-evaluation of its cultural, psychological and socioeconomic demographics. A revision in lifestyle after the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing technological advancements - particularly the rise of social media, gaming and the internet - have paradoxically both exacerbated isolation and provided new forms of social interaction for young adults who confine themselves at home. This phenomenon underlines the complex interplay between putative individual psychopathology, neurodiversity and broader societal shifts across the globe.

Indexed as

COVID-19Hikikomoriparadoxsocial withdrawaltranscultural

Identifiers

PMID40290477
PMCPMC12022855

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.