By Stephen Adeleye

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

His feat is contained in the 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.

This study complements his previously acclaimed work, the Self-Comforting and Coping Theory (SCCT) and the Self-Comforting and Coping Scale (SCCS).

Obohwemu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Saturday in Lokoja that together, these theories and scales form a comprehensive model that assesses both the practice and perception of self-comforting.

Self-comfort are internal strategies used to manage emotional distress. This can be done by engaging in some activities such as listening to music, drinking, smoking, sleeping or undertaking physical exercise.

Such activities are expected to help to reduce anxiety, stress or emotional pain.

According to Obohwemu, his works offer deeper understanding of emotional regulation and psychological resilience.

He said both studies were submitted for peer review around the same time, they were SCAT and SCAS formally published in the journal under Elsevier stable indexed in Scopus and Web of Science.

He told NAN that they examined the attitudes and beliefs that influence a person’s willingness to engage in self-comforting behaviours, such as mindfulness and emotional self-talk.

This development, he said, had been welcomed by mental health professionals, educators, and researchers as a timely and culturally adaptable framework.

Obohwemu said the SCAT and SCAS, which he described as ground-breaking, provided an innovative framework for measuring how individuals perceive and evaluate self-comforting behaviours.

Obohwemu, a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, GBS Partnership, Birmingham, UK, said the research was inspired by his experience during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“It emphasises 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 set to transform emotional wellness,” Obohwemu said.

He said the publication of SCAT and SCAS completed a four-part conceptual framework, known as the Self-Comforting Framework.

According to him, it provides researchers and clinicians with tools to evaluate both the actions and attitudes that underpin emotional resilience. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Uche Anunne