AUTHOR=Predoiu Radu , Bertollo Maurizio , Piotrowski Andrzej , Stănescu Rareș , Hamdi Faten , Szabo Gabriela , Cosma Germina 

TITLE=Psychological resilience in Olympic combat sports

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1605765

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1605765

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=IntroductionThe purpose of the study was to examine psychological resilience in Olympic combat sports, comparing gender, sports performance level and discipline type. Moreover, we verified whether resilience predicts sports performance.Materials and methodsEighty-four athletes were involved in the study. Psychological resilience was assessed with the Romanian adaptation of the Brief Resilience Scale.ResultsUsing the Goodman and Kruskal tau association test a significant link was found between athletes’ gender and the scoring on psychological resilience. Also, analysis of variance and Tukey post-hoc test highlighted significant differences between athletes’ level (i.e., international, national, and regional/local athletes) (p = 0.02, respectively p < 0.01). Data analysis showed no significant differences in resilience (p = 0.182) between the Olympic combat sports (disciplines) investigated (boxing, karate, fencing and taekwondo). In addition, a binomial logistic regression was performed, predicting athletes’ likelihood to obtain higher sports performances based on psychological resilience.ConclusionA slightly above average level of psychological resilience (generally) is linked with an increased likelihood of international and/or national performances in Olympic combat sports. On the other hand, athletes with lower caliber obtained the highest scores for resilience. In addition, male athletes obtained higher scores for resilience than female athletes. The study offers a valuable window into understanding psychological resilience in combat sports.