Mental health professionals have acknowledged and applauded Dr. Kennedy Oberhiri Obohwemu for his breakthrough in the areas of mental health in the United Kingdom.

A Nigerian-born researcher who is based in the UK has unveiled a groundbreaking theory on Emotional Resilience in the field of mental health.

Dr. Obohwemu, a medical doctor originally from Nigeria, has unveiled his second groundbreaking contribution to the field of psychology with the publication of the Self-Comforting Attitude Theory (SCAT) and the Self-Comforting Attitude Scale (SCAS).

SCAS is a model designed to understand how individuals perceive and respond to self-soothing behaviours during times of emotional distress.

The study, published in Mental Health & Prevention, a peer-reviewed journal by Elsevier indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science, introduces an innovative approach to assessing emotional resilience—not just through behaviour, but through mindset and belief systems.

This new work complements Dr. Obohwemu’s previously published Self-Comforting and Coping Theory (SCCT) and Self-Comforting and Coping Scale (SCCS), both of which were developed and submitted for peer review alongside SCAT and SCAS.

Together, the four components now form the Self-Comforting Framework—a dual-theory, dual-scale system designed to explore both the behaviours people engage in and the attitudes they hold toward self-comforting during psychological strain.

Mental health professionals are praising the framework for its innovation and clinical relevance, especially in culturally diverse and underserved communities where emotional resilience is often built without access to formal therapeutic services.

Speaking to The Guardian on his groundbreaking research on Saturday in Lokoja, Dr. Obohwemu explained that the motivation for his research came from personal experience.

Having moved to the UK just before the COVID-19 lockdowns, he found himself isolated, financially strained, and without support. During that time, he relied on internal coping mechanisms—what he now refers to as “self-comforting”—to manage the psychological burden.

He said: “We often talk about how people cope, but not enough about how they think and feel about their coping behaviours.

“Some view self-soothing as weakness, others as resilience. That attitude shapes everything—from mental health outcomes to whether people seek help.”

The SCAT and SCAS mark an important step forward in public mental health discourse, offering researchers and clinicians a tool to better understand how self-perception influences emotional regulation.

According to experts, the research could have wide applications in therapeutic practice, education, occupational health, and global public health strategies.

With four validated frameworks now contributing to the academic literature, Dr. Obohwemu is positioning himself at the forefront of a growing movement to redefine emotional resilience in more inclusive, evidence-based terms.

His work, rooted in lived experience and rigorous methodology, is rapidly gaining momentum as a valuable contribution to global mental health innovation—and a testament to how adversity can fuel breakthrough thinking.