Sex differences in grade three students' attitudes toward physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes children have towards physical activity and whether boys and girls differ significantly. Sex differences were hypothesized on one or more of the subdomains of Grade 3 Children's Attitudes Toward Physical Activity inventory. The 46 boys and 51 girls ranged from 8 to 10 years of age. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated a significant effect for sex, and subsequent univariate analysis indicated that the boys had significantly lower scores than the girls on the Aesthetic subscale. Results were discussed in terms of attitides about activity in physical education classes and continued research with younger children.

Effect of warm-up and flexibility treatments on vertical jump performance.

Although different warm-up and flexibility routines are often prescribed before physical activity, little research has been conducted to determine what effects these routines have on athletic performance in activities. The purpose of this investigation was to determine to what degree different warm-up routines affect performance in the vertical jump test. The 40 female participants were asked to perform a general warm-up only, a general warm-up and static stretching, and a general warm-up and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) on 3 nonconsecutive days. Each of the treatments was followed by a vertical jump test. A 1-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in vertical jump performance. A post hoc analysis revealed decreased vertical jump performances for the PNF treatment group. Based on the results of this study, performing PNF before a vertical jump test would be detrimental to performance.

Analysis of body esteem in female college athletes and nonathletes.

This research compared the scores on the three subscales of the Body Esteem Scale of 67 female intercollegiate athletes from various sports, and 57 female nonathlete college students enrolled in regular college classes. Analysis indicated no significant differences between the groups on the Sexual Attractiveness and Weight Concern subscales, but only on the Physical Condition subscale, with athletes reporting higher scores and more positive perceptions of body esteem than nonathletes.

Preliminary investigation of the confidence of sport spectators: importance of time, difficulty of the game, and team identification.

Three factors believed to play a role in the confidence sport spectors have in their team were examined: time until the competition began, the difficulty of the competition, and the fans' scores on identification with the team. 31 college students were asked to complete the Confidence subscale of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 on five separate occasions: 3 days before, 12 hours before, 3 hours before, immediately prior to, and at half-time of two basketball contests. Subjects also completed the Sport Spectator Identification Scale during the first testing session. Analysis indicated that subjects' confidence changed significantly as the competition approached but only for the more difficult contest. Further, highly and lowly identified subjects exhibited different patterns of confidence as the difficult competition approached.

Perception of anxiety and expectations of performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine expectations of performance and the directionality of anxiety. Directionality refers to the facilitative or debilitative aspects of anxiety. Subjects were 91 athletes competing in soccer, swimming, and track and field. The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 with an added Facilitative/Debilitative scale and Expectation of Performance scale was employed. Analysis showed that athletes with lower scores on cognitive and somatic anxiety, and higher scores on self-confidence perceived their anxiety as more facilitative of performance. These athletes also had significantly higher scores on the Expectation of Performance scale.