What matters most? Network analysis of mental health, recovery experiences, sleep, and fatigue among career firefighters

Firefighters exhibit a higher prevalence of mental health issues than other occupations because they often directly or indirectly experience potentially traumatic events. Previous research has suggested that recovery experiences, sleep, and fatigue may be protective or risk factors for firefighters' mental health. This study conducted regularised partial correlation network analysis to investigate and visualise the complex relationships between these variables. We collected data through an online survey, and 3144 career firefighters from a large east-coast city in China, were included in the analyses. The results of the network analysis showed that: (1) only relaxation and mastery experiences directly correlated with one dimension of the mental health scale, namely, life/social functioning; (2) sleep quality had stronger correlations with mental health issues than sleep quantity; and (3) mental health issues were central nodes of the network. These results indicated that firefighters' mental health was close to other variables in the network and acted as a bridge linking other variables. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the mental health of firefighters to prevent comorbidities. The study's results also indicated that recovery experiences and sleep may be protective factors for firefighters' mental health.