IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i20p13552-d947176.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire

Author

Listed:
  • Simone Amendola

    (Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Fabio Presaghi

    (Department of Psychology of Development and Socialization Processes, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Alan R. Teo

    (Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC), VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR 97239, USA
    Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA)

  • Rita Cerutti

    (Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

A serious form of social withdrawal, initially described within Japan as hikikomori, has received increasing attention from the international scientific community during the last decade. The 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25) was initially developed and validated in Japan. To date, data on its psychometric properties in other populations where cases of hikikomori have been described are still scarce. Thus, the aims of this study were to (1) translate, adapt, and validate the Italian version of the HQ-25 analyzing its psychometric properties; and (2) verify the association between hikikomori and personality functioning, social support, and problematic Internet use. A sample of 372 Italian adults aged 18 to 50 years completed the HQ-25 and measures of psychoticism, personality dysfunction, social support, and problematic Internet use were employed to test the convergent validity of the HQ-25. The data showed a satisfactory fit for a three-factor model, significantly better than a one-factor model. The three factors (socialization, isolation, and emotional support, as in the original study on the HQ-25) correlated positively with psychoticism, personality dysfunction, and problematic Internet use, and correlated negatively with social support. A lifetime history of hikikomori was present in 1.1% of the sample ( n = 4). This is the first study to use the Italian validated version of the HQ-25 with an adult population. The findings from this study provide evidence of the satisfactory psychometric properties of the Italian version of the HQ-25 and support further investigation of the HQ-25 as an instrument to help screen for and investigate the presence of hikikomori.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Amendola & Fabio Presaghi & Alan R. Teo & Rita Cerutti, 2022. "Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13552-:d:947176
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13552/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13552/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
    2. Simone Amendola & Fabio Presaghi & Alan Robert Teo & Rita Cerutti, 2022. "Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire for Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-17, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michelle Jin Yee Neoh & Alessandro Carollo & Mengyu Lim & Gianluca Esposito, 2023. "Hikikomori: A Scientometric Review of 20 Years of Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-19, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sonia Nawrocka & Hans De Witte & Margherita Pasini & Margherita Brondino, 2023. "A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions of Job Insecurity?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-27, March.
    2. Md. Mominur Rahman & Bilkis Akhter, 2021. "The impact of investment in human capital on bank performance: evidence from Bangladesh," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Masashi Soga & Kevin J. Gaston & Yuichi Yamaura & Kiyo Kurisu & Keisuke Hanaki, 2016. "Both Direct and Vicarious Experiences of Nature Affect Children’s Willingness to Conserve Biodiversity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, May.
    4. César Merino-Soto & Gina Chávez-Ventura & Verónica López-Fernández & Guillermo M. Chans & Filiberto Toledano-Toledano, 2022. "Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-L): Psychometric and Measurement Invariance Evidence in Peruvian Undergraduate Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    5. Nathaniel Oliver Iotti & Damiano Menin & Tomas Jungert, 2022. "Early Adolescents’ Motivations to Defend Victims of Cyberbullying," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-9, July.
    6. AJ Golio, 2024. "Whose Neighborhood Now? Gentrification and Community Life in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods," Working Papers 24-29, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    7. Peter Tavel & Bibiana Jozefiakova & Peter Telicak & Jana Furstova & Michal Puza & Natalia Kascakova, 2022. "Psychometric Analysis of the Shortened Version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale on the Slovak Population (SWBS-Sk)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, January.
    8. Allen, Jaime & Eboli, Laura & Forciniti, Carmen & Mazzulla, Gabriella & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2019. "The role of critical incidents and involvement in transit satisfaction and loyalty," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 57-69.
    9. Christoph Dworschak, 2024. "Bias mitigation in empirical peace and conflict studies: A short primer on posttreatment variables," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(3), pages 462-476, May.
    10. Andreea-Ionela Puiu & Anca Monica Ardeleanu & Camelia Cojocaru & Anca Bratu, 2021. "Exploring the Effect of Status Quo, Innovativeness, and Involvement Tendencies on Luxury Fashion Innovations: The Mediation Role of Status Consumption," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Slupphaug, KJell & Mehmetoglu, Mehmet & Mittner, Matthias, 2024. "modsem: An R package for estimating latent interactions and quadratic effects," OSF Preprints h3rpw, Center for Open Science.
    12. Andres Trujillo-Barrera & Joost M. E. Pennings & Dianne Hofenk, 2016. "Understanding producers' motives for adopting sustainable practices: the role of expected rewards, risk perception and risk tolerance," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 43(3), pages 359-382.
    13. Daria J. Kuss & Lydia Harkin & Eiman Kanjo & Joel Billieux, 2018. "Problematic Smartphone Use: Investigating Contemporary Experiences Using a Convergent Design," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, January.
    14. Allen, Jaime & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2019. "On evasion behaviour in public transport: Dissatisfaction or contagion?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 626-651.
    15. Cloarec, Julien, 2022. "Privacy controls as an information source to reduce data poisoning in artificial intelligence-powered personalization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 144-153.
    16. Merkle, Edgar C. & Steyvers, Mark & Mellers, Barbara & Tetlock, Philip E., 2017. "A neglected dimension of good forecasting judgment: The questions we choose also matter," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 817-832.
    17. Sai-fu Fung & Esther Oi-wah Chow & Chau-kiu Cheung, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a Brief Wisdom Development Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-14, April.
    18. Dang Vu, Hoai Nam & Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt, 2022. "Understanding determinants of the intention to buy rhino horn in Vietnam through the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    19. Tahani Z. Aldahdouh & Petri Nokelainen & Vesa Korhonen, 2020. "Technology and Social Media Usage in Higher Education: The Influence of Individual Innovativeness," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440198, January.
    20. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13552-:d:947176. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.