Mind-Body Medicine and Mental Health Among Unemployed Youth in Nigeria: A Review of Integrative Therapy Potentials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64229/8xekxw60Keywords:
Mind-body medicine, Youth unemployment, Low-resource settings, Resilience, Psychosocial well-beingAbstract
There is a strong relationship between youth unemployment in Nigeria and psychosocial distress, anxiety, depression, and diminished resilience. Few opportunities for formal mental health services highlight the need for culturally sensitive, accessible, and cost-effective interventions. This systematic review aims to compile evidence on the benefits of mind-body medicine (MBM) interventions (such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, breathing exercises, guided imagery, and relaxation techniques) on mental health outcomes in unemployed youth, particularly in Nigeria and other similar African contexts. The review was conducted in line with the principles of the PRISMA 2020 guidelines as a means of ensuring the transparency of study identification, screening, and inclusion in the review. An extensive literature search was carried out in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, African Journals Online, and WHO Institutional Repository for Information Sharing with publications from 2000 to 2025. The studies included were peer-reviewed articles that focused on mental health outcomes measured following MBM interventions in youth populations (ages 15-35). Manual screening of reference lists of studies included was used to identify other relevant studies. Results suggest the implementation of MBM interventions is implementable, scalable, and culturally relevant, with the ability to decrease stress, improve emotional regulation, increase resilience, and foster adaptive coping. But little evidence exists in Nigeria, and there is a dearth of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), longitudinal studies, or cost-effectiveness studies. The incorporation of MBM in youth mental health programs can help to foster psychosocial well-being and resilience, and hybrid MBM-digital interventions can be a feasible way to increase access in low-resource settings. Rigorous trial design, long-term outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and contextually relevant trial implementation strategies need to be examined in future research in order to maximize benefits for various youth populations.
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