Cited by 188Youth Substance Use and School AttendanceChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentYouth Education and Societal Dynamics

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Youth social withdrawal behavior (hikikomori): A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies

Li, Tim MH, Wong, Paul WC·2015·Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry

DOI 10.1177/0004867415581179

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Abstract

Objective Acute and/or severe social withdrawal behavior among youth was seen as a culture-bound psychiatric syndrome in Japan, but more youth social withdrawal cases in different countries have been discovered recently. However, due to the lack of a formal definition and diagnostic tool for youth social withdrawal, cross-cultural observational and intervention studies are limited. We aimed to consolidate existing knowledge in order to understand youth social withdrawal from diverse perspectives and suggest different interventions for different trajectories of youth social withdrawal. Method This review examined the current available scientific information on youth social withdrawal in the academic databases: ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and PubMed. We included quantitative and qualitative studies of socially withdrawn youths published in English and academic peer-reviewed journals. Results We synthesized the information into the following categories: (1) definitions of youth social withdrawal, (2) developmental theories, (3) factors associated with youth social withdrawal and (4) interventions for socially withdrawn youths. Accordingly, there are diverse and controversial definitions for youth social withdrawal. Studies of youth social withdrawal are based on models that lead to quite different conclusions. Researchers with an attachment perspective view youth social withdrawal as a negative phenomenon, whereas those who adopt Erikson's developmental theory view i…

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Authors: Li, T. M., & Wong, P. W.
Affiliations: University of Hong Kong (HK)
ORCID: Li, Tim MH
Wong, Paul WC
Venue: Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2015-04-10
Volume: 49
Issue: 7
Pages: 595-609
ISSN: 0004-8674 (ISSN-L)
1440-1614
DOI: 10.1177/0004867415581179
OpenAlex: W2127550345
Cited by: 188
References: 57
Citations by year: 2026: 19 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2
FWCI: 4.91
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Education › Youth Substance Use and School Attendance
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
Keywords: hikikomori, developmental theory, attachment theory, Erikson's psychosocial development, risk factors, intervention, cross-cultural comparison, theoretical framework
MeSH terms: Humans, Models, Psychological, Social Behavior Disorders, Social Isolation

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Youth social withdrawal behavior (hikikomori): A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies

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