Mediating Roles of Resilience and Stress in Emotion Regulation Strategies and Pilot Job Burnout

INTRODUCTION: Pilot burnout significantly affects flight safety. Despite research on related factors, the intrinsic links between pilots’ emotion regulation and burnout are not thoroughly analyzed. The distinctive work environment necessitates advanced emotional regulation skills. Exploring these mechanisms is crucial for understanding and addressing pilot burnout effectively.

METHODS: The study performed a path analysis on survey data from 106 Chinese civil aviation pilots to explore the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and job burnout.

RESULTS: The findings indicate that cognitive reappraisal affects job burnout through perceived stress and psychological resilience while expressive suppression impacts it via perceived stress. Family-work conflict and organizational stress significantly contribute to burnout, with the model showing a high fit (Comparative Fit Index = 0.99) and an R² exceeding 0.5.

DISCUSSION: This research pioneers an emotion regulation perspective in pilot job burnout analysis, suggesting innovative interventions. It emphasizes the need for holistic strategies, addressing psychological resilience enhancement and organizational culture issues to mitigate job burnout effectively. By enriching the theoretical and practical foundations in pilot job burnout management, this study offers crucial insights for the field’s development.

Zhao Y, Zhu K, Cai H, Liu Z, Xiong R, Wang L. Mediating roles of resilience and stress in emotion regulation strategies and pilot job burnout. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2025; 96(3):219–227.