Abstract

Mental health issues among youth in urban slums are significant public health concerns, with Lagos being a densely populated area facing these challenges. A comprehensive search strategy was employed to identify relevant studies published between and, using databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Studies were screened based on inclusion criteria related to mentorship programmes targeting youth mental health in Lagos urban slums. Findings from the review suggest that school-to-school mentorship programmes have shown a moderate positive impact (SMD = 0. 65, p <. 01) on reducing symptoms of depression among adolescents in these settings. The evidence supports the efficacy of mentorship programmes as an intervention for youth mental health issues within urban slums of Lagos. Future research should focus on evaluating long-term effects and exploring scalability of these interventions across different socio-economic contexts.