Linking trauma-informed features of Kickboxing to trait resilience: Evidence from a quantitative study

Although Kickboxing originates from combat sports, its training process, characterized by a sense of safety, physical empowerment, and a supportive environment, aligns closely with the core principles of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC). Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study constructs and empirically tests a structural model to examine how these trauma-informed characteristics are associated with individuals' trait resilience through the fulfillment of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Using a convenience sampling approach via an online platform, a total of 547 valid samples were collected, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for measurement validation and path analysis. The results indicate that physical empowerment is significantly and consistently positively associated with all three psychological needs, while perceived safety and a supportive environment primarily foster a sense of relatedness. In the relationship between psychological needs and resilience, both competence and relatedness are significantly and positively associated with trait resilience, whereas autonomy did not show a direct association. The findings highlight the importance of "reclaiming the body" as a key factor in building psychological resilience. This study integrates TIC and SDT into a unified framework for the first time, revealing context-specific patterns of psychological need fulfillment and highlighting potential sequential effects in trauma-informed environments. It suggests that, in trauma-informed Kickboxing environments, priority should be given to strengthening physical empowerment and building group trust, as these are positively associated with resilience in broader general populations under stress.