Neuroticism, perceived stress, psychological resilience, and pre-dive state anxiety in professional divers: a cross-sectional study.

backgroundProfessional divers work in safety-critical environments that require sustained attention, rapid judgment, and stable emotional control. Neuroticism is a vulnerability trait related to negative affectivity, perceived stress reflects appraisal of recent demands, and psychological resilience may be associated with weaker stress-related associations. This study examined how these factors were associated with pre-dive state anxiety in professional divers.

methodsThis cross-sectional study used a de-identified, code-linked, two-component survey design in China from January to February 2026. A total of 300 professional divers completed the baseline web-based questionnaire, and 277 were included in the final analysis after eligibility and data-quality screening. The baseline questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, neuroticism, perceived stress, and psychological resilience. The State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) was completed separately on the day of a scheduled diving task, shortly before the dive. Pearson correlations, adjusted linear regression models, and exploratory interaction analyses were conducted controlling for age, education, and years of diving experience.

resultsNeuroticism was positively correlated with state anxiety (r = 0.77, p < 0.001) and perceived stress (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), whereas resilience was negatively correlated with neuroticism (r = -0.49, p < 0.001) and state anxiety (r = -0.58, p < 0.001). After adjustment, neuroticism was strongly associated with state anxiety (B = 0.81, SE = 0.04, β = 0.78, p < 0.001), and perceived stress was also associated with state anxiety after accounting for neuroticism (B = 0.16, SE = 0.05, β = 0.13, p = 0.001). Resilience did not significantly moderate the direct neuroticism-state anxiety association (B ≈ 0.000, p = 0.837), but it moderated the neuroticism-perceived stress and perceived stress-state anxiety associations (both B = -0.011, p < 0.001). These associations were weaker at higher resilience.

conclusionsIn this convenience sample of Chinese professional divers, higher neuroticism and perceived stress were associated with higher pre-dive state anxiety, whereas greater resilience was associated with lower state anxiety and with weaker selected stress-related associations. The mean STAI-S score was in a low-to-moderate range; therefore, the findings should not be interpreted as showing clinically elevated anxiety or as implying that all pre-dive arousal is maladaptive. Longitudinal and repeated-measures studies are needed to clarify temporal ordering, practical significance, and intervention implications.