UK-Based Nigerian Lecturer’s Groundbreaking Work in Mental Health Science Earns Global Praise

 A renowned UK-based researcher and mental health advocate from Nigeria, Dr. Kennedy Oberhiri Obohwemu, has achieved a significant milestone in global mental health research. His latest publication introduces the Self-Comforting Attitude Theory (SCAT) and the corresponding Self-Comforting Attitude Scale (SCAS), offering a fresh perspective on understanding emotional resilience and self-comforting behaviors.  

This breakthrough complements his previously acclaimed work, the Self-Comforting and Coping Theory and the Self-Comforting and Coping Scale. Together, these theories and scales form a comprehensive model that assesses both the practice and perception of self-comforting, providing deeper insights into emotional regulation and psychological resilience.  

Although both studies were submitted for peer review around the same time, the SCAT and SCAS have now been formally published in *Mental Health & Prevention*, a peer-reviewed journal by Elsevier indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. This reinforces the academic credibility and growing global interest in Obohwemu’s body of work.  

The SCAT and SCAS examine the attitudes and beliefs that influence a person’s willingness to engage in self-comforting behaviors, such as mindfulness and emotional self-talk. This development has been welcomed by mental health professionals, educators, and researchers as a timely and culturally adaptable framework, particularly relevant in today’s climate of heightened emotional stress and mental health inequalities.  

Speaking on his groundbreaking achievement, Dr. Obohwemu said, “The SCAT and SCAS provide an innovative framework for measuring how individuals perceive and evaluate self-comforting behaviors, which are internal strategies used to manage emotional distress.”  

Dr. Obohwemu, a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and GBS Partnership in Birmingham, UK, explained that the research was inspired by his lived experience during the COVID-19 lockdowns, which emphasized the importance of internal resources in managing emotional distress.  

“In moments of crisis, people often rely on internal resources to stay emotionally afloat. But whether or not they engage in those strategies depends largely on how they perceive them—whether they view self-comforting as weak or wise, indulgent or essential. That is the focus of SCAT and SCAS, which aim to transform emotional wellness,” he added.  

The publication of SCAT and SCAS completes a four-part conceptual framework known as the Self-Comforting Framework, equipping researchers and clinicians with tools to evaluate both the actions and attitudes that underpin emotional resilience.  

As mental health challenges continue to rise globally, innovations like SCAT and SCAS are not only academically important but also urgently needed. Dr. Obohwemu’s growing portfolio of influential research positions him as a leading voice in psychological science.