College women's perceptions regarding resistance to sexual assault.

College women's perceptions about resistance to sexual assault were examined. Twenty-one percent of the 334 women surveyed stated that they had been sexually assaulted. The vast majority of participants had changed their lifestyles to prevent a sexual assault. Less than 1 woman in 5 of those surveyed had taken a self-defense class. Participants believed that resisting sexual assault by a stranger with a weapon was more likely than resisting an unarmed attacker to increase their chances of being physically harmed, raped, or murdered. Twenty-two percent of the participants said they were "very likely" to resist sexual assault by a stranger with a weapon; 52% would resist a stranger without a weapon. The findings indicate the need for an increase in the number of women taking self-defense classes and a revision in women's perceptions about resisting sexual assault.

Characteristics of elementary school principals and their support for the physical education program.

The purpose was to describe the characteristics of elementary school principals who support elementary physical education programs. A statewide random sample of 500 elementary school principals and their respective elementary physical education teachers (n = 500) were mailed questionnaires. A total of 321 principals responded (64%) to a 20-item questionnaire which assessed their physical fitness and their perceptions of elementary physical education. A total of 340 physical education teacher (68%) responded to a 23-item survey assessing their perceptions of their elementary principals' support for the physical education program. The majority of teachers perceived their principals to be supportive of them and the physical education program. A series of t tests showed no significant differences in principals' age, gender, years of experience as a principal, or how important they thought health and physical education was compared to other subjects taught in the elementary school and how supportive of physical education the principals were perceived to be. Finally, a stepwise backward multiple regression analysis indicated that seven variables, including fitness of the principal and body mass index, did not explain more than 13% of the variance in teachers' perceived support by principals.

Urban black and white adolescents' physical fitness status and perceptions of exercise.

The modified Harvard Step Test and a 70-item questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) were given to 257 high school students, 154 blacks, and 93 whites. Mean age of students was 16.0 years (SD = 1.1) for whites and 15.8 years (SD = 1.1) for blacks. Though more blacks than whites were in poor physical condition (51% females and 27% males vs. 35% females and 16% males, respectively), the difference was not statistically significant. A high level of concurrence existed between individuals in good physical condition and those who stated they regularly exercised, but this agreement was more pronounced among white students (73% vs. 62% for black students). White students were significantly more knowledgeable than black students on the exercise knowledge subscale. No significant differences existed between black and white students on any other HBM subscales. When subscale scores for those in good versus poor physical condition were compared, significant differences were found on all subscales except the perceived benefits subscale. Analysis of individual questionnaire items which best predicted whether one was in poor or good physical condition found four items accounted for 38% of variance in black students, and seven items accounted for 52% of variance in white students.