By joshua Again, Nigerian-born Dr. Kennedy Obohwemu Unveils Second Global First in Mental Health Science
May 18, 2025
Dr. Kennedy Oberhiri Obohwemu, a UK-based researcher, mental health advocate and university lecturer originally from Nigeria, has achieved another landmark in global mental health research with the publication of a new psychological theory and measurement tool aimed at understanding emotional resilience from a fresh perspective.
The newly released Self-Comforting Attitude Theory (SCAT) and its corresponding Self-Comforting Attitude Scale (SCAS) offer an innovative framework for measuring how individuals perceive and evaluate self-comforting behaviours—those internal, self-directed strategies used to manage emotional distress.
This publication follows closely on the heels of Dr. Obohwemu’s previously acclaimed work, the Self-Comforting and Coping Theory (SCCT) and the Self-Comforting and Coping Scale (SCCS).
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, reinforcing the academic credibility and growing global interest in Dr. Obohwemu’s body of work.
While the earlier SCCT/SCCS focused on what people do to self-soothe—behaviours such as mindfulness, reframing, or emotional self-talk—SCAT and SCAS examine the attitudes and beliefs that influence a person’s willingness to engage in those behaviours.
Together, the two theories and their accompanying scales form a comprehensive model that assesses both the practice and perception of self-comforting, providing a deeper understanding of emotional regulation and psychological resilience.
Mental health professionals, educators, and researchers have welcomed this development as a timely and culturally adaptable framework, especially relevant in today’s climate of heightened emotional stress and mental health inequalities.
Dr. Obohwemu, whose research was inspired by his lived experience during the COVID-19 lockdowns, explained:
“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’s the focus of SCAT and SCAS.”
The publication of SCAT and SCAS now completes a four-part conceptual framework—consisting of two original theories and two psychometric scales—known as the Self-Comforting Framework.
This comprehensive system provides researchers and clinicians with tools to evaluate both the actions and attitudes that underpin emotional resilience.
With a growing portfolio of influential research, Dr. Obohwemu is fast becoming one of the most exciting voices in psychological science, particularly in areas where mental health intersects with cultural experience, academic pressure, and social isolation.
As mental health challenges continue to rise globally, innovations like these are not only academically important—they are humanly urgent.
And according to Dr. Obohwemu, this is just the beginning of a much larger conversation on how the world understands and supports inner strength.
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