Relational wellbeing (RWB) is a vital and culturally resonant concept in West Africa, where social connectedness, interdependence, and collective identity are central to individual and community wellbeing. In contrast to predominantly individualistic models of wellbeing, RWB emphasises the quality of relationships, the strength of social networks, and the influence of broader societal and environmental contexts (White, 2017). This concept aligns closely with African cultural philosophies such as Ubuntu, emphasising shared humanity, and Nkonsonkonson, the Ghanaian Adinkra symbol representing unity and interconnectedness (Ekanem, 2020; Metz, 2020). However, existing wellbeing measures have largely emerged from WEIRD contexts. As a result, they often overlook the relational dimensions that are central to wellbeing in collectivist societies, particularly among young people (Wilson Fadiji et al., 2021).

This misalignment has created a significant gap in the tools available to understand and support youth wellbeing in the Global South. Without culturally attuned frameworks, interventions risk being ineffective or irrelevant. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop contextually appropriate and culturally sensitive tools that capture the relational and communal dimensions shaping youth wellbeing in African settings and similar collectivist cultures.

The study will begin with a comprehensive scoping review of existing research on RWB among young people in the Global South, aimed at informing the development of a culturally relevant RWB measurement tool. This review will follow the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines (Tricco et al., 2018) and will systematically search databases including PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus using keywords such as “relational wellbeing”, “youth”, and “Global South”. Informed by the review, the empirical component of the study will employ a cultural epidemiological approach (Weiss, 2001) to explore how RWB is conceptualised, experienced, and expressed by diverse stakeholders across Ghana. Fieldwork will be conducted by six pairs of trained youth researchers (YRs), who will facilitate participatory workshops and conduct in-depth interviews in both rural and urban settings.

Each YR pair will lead four participatory workshops, one with male youth, one with female youth, one with primary caregivers, and one with community leaders, resulting in a total of 24 workshops (12 with youth, 6 with caregivers, and 6 with community leaders). In addition, each pair will conduct five interviews with youth, two with primary caregivers, and two with community leaders, yielding a total of 54 in-depth interviews. This qualitative data will form the basis for item development in the RWB measurement tool and provide nuanced insights into the relational and cultural dynamics shaping youth wellbeing in Ghana.

Mainstream wellbeing research has often overlooked the relational dimensions that shape lived experiences, with a predominant focus on individual or structural factors (White, 2015). This study places RWB at the forefront, investigating how social connections, cultural norms, and environmental contexts influence the wellbeing of young people in Ghana.

Through participatory and context-driven inquiry, the study will generate deep insights into how RWB is understood and experienced by Ghanaian youth. The central outcome will be the co-creation of a culturally grounded, context-specific RWB measure that captures these relational dynamics. This tool is expected to enhance the ability of communities, practitioners, and policymakers to meaningfully support young people’s mental health and wellbeing through interventions that resonate with their social realities and collective values.

This study aims to fill a critical gap in the understanding and promotion of youth wellbeing in the Global South by developing a culturally sensitive and contextually grounded measure of RWB. Drawing on both the existing literature and rich qualitative data from young people aged 18 to 24 across Ghana’s Coastal, Middle, and Northern regions, the research will explore how RWB is conceptualised, experienced, and expressed within the Ghanaian sociocultural context.

Insights from this exploration will inform the development of a robust and contextually relevant assessment tool that captures the relational dimensions of youth wellbeing often overlooked by existing measures. The validated RWB tool will provide a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, supporting the design, implementation, and evaluation of mental health and wellbeing interventions that are better aligned with the lived realities of young people in Ghana and potentially across other collectivist settings in the Global South.

Survey items reflecting the sociocultural dimensions of relational wellbeing (RWB) will be developed based on findings from work package 2 and constructed using item response modelling techniques (Wilson, 2023). These items will be refined through participatory feedback from key stakeholders, including young people, primary caregivers, and community leaders, ensuring cultural sensitivity and contextual relevance. Development will be guided by participatory learning and action workshops conducted across the Coastal, Middle, and Northern regions of Ghana. Within WP1 (Youth Engagement and Capacity Building), YRs will systematically monitor their own learning and growth, documenting how participation influences their sense of leadership, confidence, and relational capacity. They will also collect peer feedback during workshops and field activities, capturing real-time community responses to the research process.

In work package 2.2 (Ethnographic and Cultural Epidemiological Study), YRs will conduct interviews and administer surveys that include prompts for participant reflection on changes in their relationships with peers, caregivers, and community leaders. These reflections will be integrated into the participatory monitoring framework and reviewed iteratively, helping to ensure that project activities and the emerging RWB tool remain aligned with cultural expectations and lived experiences.