Community-based sport-leisure participation and perceived community psychological resilience: a three-wave RI-CLPM study of community identification and collective efficacy

Abstract

Objective In modern risk societies, community psychological resilience has become an important concern for community psychology and behavioral science. Yet less is known about how everyday community-based sport-leisure participation contributes to residents’ perceived community psychological resilience over time. This study examined whether residents’ community-based sport-leisure participation predicts subsequent perceived community psychological resilience and whether this association is explained by community identification and collective efficacy. Methods A three-wave longitudinal survey with a 4-month time lag was conducted among 386 residents in Hangzhou, China. Data were analyzed using a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to separate within-person state dynamics from stable between-person differences. Results Within-person increases in community-based sport-leisure participation positively predicted subsequent perceived community psychological resilience (T1 → T2: β = 0.18, p < 0.01; T2 → T3: β = 0.21, p < 0.01). The theory-guided standardized sequential indirect effect through community identification and collective efficacy was also significant [standardized indirect effect = 0.065, 95% CI (0.032, 0.105)]. Conclusion The findings provide longitudinal predictive evidence consistent with a behavior–identity–efficacy pathway linking residents’ sport-leisure participation with perceived community psychological resilience. Given the observational design and modest effect sizes, the pathway should be interpreted as one prospective social-psychological association rather than as evidence of a causal intervention effect. The study positions community-based sport-leisure participation as an everyday behavioral context embedded in social relationships, with implications for community-based health promotion, social connection, and resilience-related perceptions.