Cognitive and emotional mechanisms of psychological resilience in post-disaster contexts: the influence of risk perception, prior experience, and cognitive resilience in a processual explanatory model

Introduction: In the context of the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related natural disasters, identifying the psychological mechanisms that support adaptive functioning has become a critical research priority. Psychological resilience is conceptualized as a dynamic, context-dependent adaptive process shaped by cognitive appraisals of risk, regulatory cognitive mechanisms, and prior disaster experience. The present study examined the relationship between risk perception and psychological resilience by testing the mediating role of cognitive resilience and the conditional influence of prior disaster experience and hazard type. Methods: The sample consisted of 172 higher-education teachers from Romania, predominantly from the Dobrogea region. Data were collected using the psychometrically validated Resilience to Natural Disasters Questionnaire (α = 0.79-0.89). Conditional process analyses were conducted in SPSS (v.28) using PROCESS Models 1, 4, and 7, with 5,000 bootstrap resamples, to test mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation effects. Results: Cognitive resilience significantly mediated the relationship between risk perception and psychological resilience, with the magnitude of the indirect effect varying as a function of hazard type. The indirect effect of prior disaster experience through cognitive resilience remained consistent across hazard contexts. Cognitive mediation was stronger in contexts characterized by higher unpredictability (fires) than in more controllable situations (floods). Heightened cognitive activation was associated with lower levels of psychological resilience, suggesting a compensatory mechanism under conditions of elevated threat. Prior disaster experience further shaped the strength of these associations across models. Discussion: The findings support a processual and context-sensitive model of psychological resilience, highlighting the dynamic interplay between risk perception, cognitive regulation, experiential factors, and situational characteristics. These results provide an empirical foundation for differentiated post-disaster psychological interventions tailored to individuals' cognitive and experiential profiles.