Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
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.
Yang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.