Positive mental health and well-being in Kenya: a scoping review

Positive mental health and well-being are viewed as culturally influenced constructs mainly shaped by social contexts. In Kenya, the limited empirical literature on the positive psychosocial characteristics that enhance well-being hinders the development of culturally relevant mental health promotion strategies. This scoping review sought to synthesize existing studies focusing on these positive characteristics within the Kenyan population. A scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, and searches were done in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed articles from January 2000 to November 2025. The review focused on empirical studies from Kenya that examined positive psychosocial characteristics and excluded psychiatric disorders. Out of 2249 references identified, 6 manual and 777 automated duplicates were identified. After screening titles and abstracts for 1466 studies, 1448 studies were excluded; 18 full texts were assessed, of which 2 with no empirical data were excluded, resulting in 16 studies included in the review. Common to the 16 included studies is evidence that life satisfaction, optimism, and ethnic identity are key in shaping identity, resilience, and mental health. Self-efficacy and feelings of safety are vital for student well-being and success, while supportive environments enhance resilience across age groups. Religious practices and community involvement significantly enhance coping skills, with music culture fostering social connections and mental health among youth. This review underscores the need for mental health promotion in Kenya to strengthen indigenous practices, community and spiritual resources. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies, rural populations, and locally validated mental health measures.