Purpose To explore whether the ‘hikikomori’ syndrome (social withdrawal) described in Japan exists in other countries, and if so, how patients with the syndrome are diagnosed and treated. Methods Two hikikomori case vignettes were sent to psychiatrists in Australia, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA. Participants rated the syndrome's prevalence in their country, etiology, diagnosis, suicide risk, and treatment. Results Out of 247 responses to the questionnaire (123 from Japan and 124 from other countries), 239 were enrolled in the analysis. Respondents’ felt the hikikomori syndrome is seen in all countries examined and especially in urban areas. Biopsychosocial, cultural, and environmental factors were all listed as probable causes of hikikomori, and differences among countries were not significant. Japanese psychiatrists suggested treatment in outpatient wards and some did not think that psychiatric treatment is necessary. Psychiatrists in other countries opted for more active treatment such as hospitalization. Conclusions Patients with the hikikomori syndrome are perceived as occurring across a variety of cultures by psychiatrists in multiple countries. Our results provide a rational basis for study of the existence and epidemiology of hikikomori in clinical or community populations in international settings.

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The present work reviews the literature examining connections involving the key constructs of optimism and pessimism with motivation and adjustment. We review historical and conceptual models of optimism and pessimism. We then examine how these central constructs have been linked to both adaptive and maladaptive motivational processes and outcomes in the empirical literature. How cultural factors may impact the function of optimism and pessimism is also discussed. We end with a brief discussion of emerging issues that would be useful to examine in future research on optimism and pessimism.

The present study examined cultural variations on performance perfectionism (Chang in Cogn Therapy Res 30:677-697, 2006; Cogn Therapy Res 33:334-344, 2009) in 168 European American and 151 Japanese college students. Results of between-groups analyses on performance perfectionism provided support for the general notion of self-enhancement in the West and self-criticism in the East. Moreover, performance perfectionism was found to be associated with concurrent and prospective (2 months later) depressive symptomatology in both cultural groups. Results of regression analyses for both European Americans and Japanese indicated that negative self-oriented performance perfectionism predicted changes in depressive symptomatology at Time 2 even after controlling for initial symptomatology at Time 1. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

This study examined the relation of positive and negative socially prescribed perfectionism to psychological well-being in 100 Asian American and 91 European American college students. Participants received one of four priming conditions (positive, negative, neutral expectancies and control) and completed several measures of perfectionism and psychological well-being at pretest and posttest. Findings showed that, controlling for pretest scores, priming participants with negative outcome expectancies led to higher levels of negative perfectionism and lower levels of positive perfectionism, and priming participants with positive outcome expectancies led to lower levels of negative perfectionism and higher levels of positive affect. Differences also emerged between Asian and European Americans in levels of perfectionism and the link between perfectionism and well-being. Asian Americans had lower levels of subjective well-being and higher levels of negative perfectionism than European Americans, and Asian Americans were also less susceptible to the effects of positive priming. Present findings raise the possibility that cultural differences may affect ways of thinking about the past, present and future.