ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1596504
Pathological and Non-Pathological Hikikomori: Social Media Use, Digital Engagement, and Therapeutic Implications
Provisionally accepted
- University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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Introduction: Introduction: Hikikomori is traditionally defined as a form of pathological social withdrawal marked by extreme social isolation in one's home, leading to significant functional impairment or distress. However, shifts in working and study habits since COVID-19 have introduced the concept of 'non-pathological hikikomori' to describe individuals who are isolated in their homes but do not experience functional impairment or distress. Hikikomori are frequent users of the internet and social media, which raises interesting questions regarding the relationship between social withdrawal and physical withdrawal. This study examined whether social media use differs by hikikomori status (pathological vs. non-pathological) and phase (early Method: A cross-sectional study recruited 1,420 self-identified frequent internet users (aged 18-25) via Prolific, who completed a questionnaire on their social media activity (time spent; type of communication), hikikomori status (pathological/non-pathological), and phase (early/pre/full). Of these, 1,235 identified as hikikomori (Mage = 21.5, SD = 2.2; females = 661, males = 572, undisclosed = 2). Within this group, 455 were classified as pathological hikikomori (early = 113, pre = 151, full = 191), while 780 were non-pathological (early = 179, pre = 201, full = 400).Results: Pathological hikikomori used significantly more social media platforms than nonpathological hikikomori (4.16 vs 3.84: F(1,1224)=20.05, p<.001, ηp²=.016). In terms of phase, full hikikomori (3.82) used fewer social media platforms than early (4.01) and pre (4.13) hikikomori, (F(2,1224)=7.19, p<.001, ηp²=.012: early and pre hikikomori did not differ from each other). The interaction between pathological status and phase was not significant (F(2,1224)=1.28, p=.278, ηp²=.002). Social media platforms were not used for more time by pathological compared to nonpathological hikikomori, but there were differences in how the social media platforms were used.Regarding communication style, across all phases, pathological hikikomori consistently engaged with others via TikTok and YouTube significantly more than non-pathological hikikomori. Using TikTok
Keywords: Hikikomori, Social Media, Social Isolation, Pathological, non-pathological
Received: 19 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gavin, Brosnan and Joiner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jeff Gavin, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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