UK-Based Nigerian Doctor makes global breakthrough in Psychological Science

By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja

DR Kennedy Obohwemu, a renowned UK-based Nigerian researcher and mental health advocate has achieved a significant breakthrough in global mental health research with a fresh perspective on understanding emotional resilience and self-comforting behaviours.

Obohwemu, a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, GBS Partnership, Birmingham, UK, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Lokoja

He said his recent discovery is contained in his latest publication on Self-Comforting Attitude Theory (SCAT) and the corresponding Self-Comforting Attitude Scale (SCAS).

The outcome of his research on: ’’Theory and Psychometric Development of a Survey to Measure attitudes Towards Self-Comforting Behaviours: The Self-Comforting Attitude Scale (SCAS)’’ was published in high-impact Mental Health Prevention journal, Vol. 38.

The SCAT and the SCAS, he said, offer a fresh perspective on understanding emotional resilience and self-comforting behaviors.

He added that the breakthrough complements his previously acclaimed works, the Self-Comforting and Coping Theory (SCCT) and the Self-Comforting and Coping Scale (SCCS).

Together, these theories and scales form a comprehensive model that assesses both the practice and perception of self-comforting, offering a deeper understanding of 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 journal.

They were published by Elsevier indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, reinforcing the academic credibility and growing global interest in Obohwemu’s body of work.

He explained, “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, according to him, 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 further on his groundbreaking feat, he noted that the SCAT and SCAS provided an innovative framework for measuring how individuals perceive and evaluate self-comforting behaviors, which are internal strategies used to manage emotional distress.

The Oxford Brookes University lecturer said the research was inspired by his live experience during the COVID-19 lockdown, 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 and that is the focus of SCAT and SCAS, which set to transform emotional wellness.

“The publication of SCAT and SCAS completes a four-part conceptual framework, known as the Self-Comforting Framework, providing 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 humanly urgent”, Obohwemu said. (Ends)