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Boredom, loneliness and modern type depression in a cohort of Italian university students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

L. Orsolini ,
S. Bellagamba ,
G. Longo ,
S. Tempia Valenta ,
V. Salvi  and
U. Volpe
L. Orsolini
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Psychiatric, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy, Department Of Neurosciences/dimsc, Ancona, Italy
S. Bellagamba*
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Psychiatry, Department Of Neurosciences/dimsc, Polytechnic University Of Marche, Ancona, Italy
G. Longo
Affiliation:
Polytechnic University of Marche, Department Of Clinical Neurosciences/dimsc, School Of Medicine, Unit Of Psychiatry, Ancona, Italy
S. Tempia Valenta
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Psychiatry, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy, Department Of Neurosciences/dimsc, Ancona, Italy
V. Salvi
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Psychiatric, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy, Department Of Neurosciences/dimsc, Ancona, Italy
U. Volpe
Affiliation:
Unit of Clinical Psychiatric, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy, Department Of Neurosciences/dimsc, Ancona, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

COVID-19-related physical isolation, fear and anxiety determined de novo mental illnesses, by potentially facilitating the emergence of Hikikomori traits (i.e., a severe social withdrawal condition).

Objectives

The present study aims at screening a cohort of university students for the Hikikomori traits and assessing a set of psychopathological determinants associated with Hikikomori, particularly boredom and loneliness dimensions.

Methods

A cross-sectional web-based survey was carried out by administering Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-11), Italian Loneliness Scale (ILS), Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20).

Results

1,148 respondents (767 women and 374 men, mean age: 23.2±SD=2.8 years old) were recruited. 70.7% declared to have experienced psychological distress. HQ-11 average total score was 18.4±SD=7.5 with statistically significant higher values in the males (p=0.017) and amongst students studying Informatics, Mathematics/Physics/Chemistry, Science of Communication and Engineering. The HQ-11 positively correlated with ILS (r=0.609), MSBS (r=0.415), TAS-20 (r=0.482) and DASS-21 (r=0.434).

Conclusions

This study represents the first screening of the Hikikomori phenomenon in Italian university students. Hikikomori traits appear to be particularly represented in the Italian youth population and should be carefully investigated in future studies.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Modern Type DepressionHikikomori
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S866
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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