I led development of the 25-Item Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25) with colleagues in the United States and Japan, particularly Dr. Takahiro Kato of Kyushu University. It is a self‐administered questionnaire used to assess hikikomori, a form of severe social withdrawal and an emerging mental health issue.
The HQ-25 is scored between 0-100, with higher scores representing more severe symptoms of hikikomori. Forty-two (42) is a proposed cutoff score indicating risk for hikikomori. The HQ-25 consists of three factors: lack of sociality, isolation, and lack of emotional support. This measure has only been validated as a way to assess severity of hikikomori symptoms over the past 6 months. Other uses have not been validated.
If you are interested in using the HQ-25, including for research or clinical purposes, please complete this form.
Language | Developer(s) | Translated/Back Translated | Conducted validation study | Published in peer-reviewed journal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese | Hu Ting, 2022 | Yes | Yes | In Progress |
English | Teo et al., 2018 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
French 1 | Geraldine Dorard & Nancy Pionnié-Dax, 2021 | Yes | In Progress | In Progress |
French 2 | Marie Jeanne Guedj & Xavier Benarous, 2021 | Yes | In Progress | In Progress |
German | Hajek et al., 2023 | Yes | In Progress | No |
Italian 1 | Amendola et al., 2021 | Yes | Yes | In Progress |
Italian 2 | Fino et al., 2022 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Japanese | Teo et al., 2018 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Korean | Je et al., 2022 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Romanian | Coca et al., 2021 | Yes | In Progress | Unknown |
Russian | Lyakina & Fedorov, 2021 | Yes | Yes | No |
Spanish | Barquero Morales, 2021 | No | No | No |
Turkish 1 | Gündoğmuş et al., 2021 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Turkish 2 | Bayram & Yilmaz, 2023 | Yes | Yes | Yes |