Developing an Original Ecological Systems Model for Understanding Adolescent Mental Health in Nigerian Urban Contexts

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory provides a foundational model for contextualising adolescent development, but its original formulation requires significant adaptation to account for the distinctive urban Nigerian contexts of poverty, ethnic plurality, insecurity, and rapid cultural change that shape adolescent mental health in cities like Lagos, Ibadan, and Kano. This study developed an original ecological systems model for adolescent mental health in Nigerian urban contexts, building on and extending Bronfenbrenner's foundational framework. A theory-building methodology employing systematic review, qualitative multi-site research, and expert validation was adopted. The systematic review examined 70 publications applying ecological frameworks to Nigerian youth development from 2015 to 2024, identifying critical gaps in theorisation of religious institutional systems, ethnic community networks, digital social environments, and postcolonial educational structures as distinct ecological levels. Qualitative research at six urban sites (Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja) encompassed 54 focus groups with adolescents and 28 key informant interviews with teachers, counsellors, and community leaders. Qualitative synthesis generated six ecological levels specific to Nigerian urban adolescent mental health: individual psychobiology, family system, peer and social network, ethnic-religious-community system, institutional system, and societal-macro system. The original Urban Nigerian Adolescent Ecological Mental Health Model introduces the concept of cultural ecosystem congruence, theorising how cross-level cultural coherence or dissonance shapes mental health risk and protective processes. Expert review by 22 developmental and counselling scholars confirmed the model's theoretical advance over existing frameworks.

Keywords: ecological systems theory, adolescent mental health, urban Nigeria, developmental model, original contribution