Public Health and Psychosocial Stress in Ageing Nigerians: A Life-Course Narrative Review of Risk and Resilience

Abstract

<b>Background</b>: Nigeria is undergoing a rapid demographic transition, with the population aged 60 years and above projected to triple by 2050. Ageing in this context is shaped by long-standing structural inequalities, cumulative psychosocial stressors, and limited access to age-appropriate health and social services. Existing research on ageing in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa remains fragmented and rarely adopts an integrative life-course perspective.<br /> <b>Objective: </b>This narrative review examines how psychosocial stressors and social vulnerability accumulate across the lifespan to influence health outcomes among ageing Nigerians, while also exploring the role of resilience and protective factors.<br /> Methods: Guided by life-course theory and the concept of allostatic load, this review synthesizes multidisciplinary evidence from peer-reviewed literature and authoritative grey sources. Evidence was thematically organized across early life, midlife, and later life stages, focusing on structural vulnerability, psychosocial stress, and resilience mechanisms.<br /> <b>Results: </b>Cumulative exposure to poverty, gender inequality, informal employment, caregiving burden, and health system limitations is associated with increased risks of chronic disease, mental ill-health, functional decline, and reduced quality of life in later life. Early-life adversities initiate trajectories of disadvantage that are amplified during midlife and compounded in older age by social isolation and economic insecurity. While resilience embedded in family networks, community cohesion, and spirituality provides partial protection, these mechanisms are insufficient to offset systemic deficits.<br /> <b>Conclusion: </b>Ageing in Nigeria reflects the long-term embodiment of psychosocial stress and structural vulnerability. Public health responses must adopt life-course-oriented strategies that integrate geriatric care into primary healthcare, strengthen social protection systems, and support culturally grounded resilience mechanisms to promote equitable and dignified ageing.