The Relationship Between Cognitive Failure, Neuroticism and Situational Awareness With Accidents Among Firefighters: Considering the Mediating and Moderating Role of Resilience Publisher

Summary: Why do firefighters face workplace accidents? A study linked cognitive lapses and neuroticism to accident risk, while resilience appeared to buffer those links. #FirefighterSafety #MentalHealth

Habibi E ; Sadeghi M ; Jalali M ; Khorshidikia S
Source: Heliyon Published:2026

Abstract

Background Due to the stressful occupational events, firefighters are exposed to several mental disorders. This makes it necessary to examine cognitive and psychological functioning/factors among firefighters that may underpin work accidents. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the roles of situational awareness, cognitive failure and neuroticism in causing firefighting-related accidents with a focus on determining the moderating and mediating role of resilience. Methods A number of 160 firefighters were enrolled in this matched case-control study with 80 participants in each group (cases vs. controls). The cases were firefighters with at least one year of work experience who have had at least one occupational accident during the last year. Matched controls were among firefighters working at the same stations with no accidents within the past one year. Demographic information and data related to the situational awareness, cognitive failures, neuroticism and resilience were collected using standard questionnaires and then subjected to analysis. Results The mean ± SD values for neuroticism, resilience, situational awareness and cognitive failure were calculated as 30.45 ± 7.10, 58.40 ± 15.31, 67.46 ± 11.38 and 78.21 ± 21.37, respectively. The comparative results showed that the mean score values for cognitive failure (p value = 0.043) and neuroticism (p value = 0.020) were significantly higher for cases compared to the controls. The mean score values for the resilience were found to be significantly lower among case groups (p value = 0.046). Also, higher mean score values were found for situational awareness among cases versus controls, but the difference was not significant (p value = 0.857). Further results showed that the relationship between neuroticism and cognitive failure with accident is mediated through resilience. Employing hierarchical regression analysis, it was found that resilience plays a significant negative role on the relationship between cognitive failure (β = −0.242, p value = 0.031) and neuroticism (β = −0.281, p value = 0.011) with accidents. Conclusion This study highlights that cognitive failures, although not a personality trait but influenced by multiple factors, significantly contribute to the risk of accidents among firefighters, alongside neuroticism. Resilience plays a critical role in buffering the impact of both cognitive failures and neuroticism on accident risk. These insights are valuable for policymakers and safety experts in developing targeted strategies to enhance firefighter safety by addressing the underlying cognitive and psychological factors. © 2026 The Authors.