This study aimed to examine the relationships between changes in the center of foot pressure (COP) during the static one leg standing posture and in the balance test on one leg with eyes closed. Subjects consisted of 51 healthy young males (height 173.1±4.3cm, body weight 66.9±5.9kg, and age 21.1±1.5years). Four COP factors were interpreted by applying factor analysis to a correlation matrix consisting of 32 parameters representing the 6 domains of distance, distribution of amplitude, area, velocity, power spectrum, and body sway vector which were used to evaluate COP sway. Unit time sway factor (F1) reflects movement distance (sway velocity) per unit time. Front-back sway factor (F2) and left-right sway factor (F3) reflect the amount of front-back sway and the amount of left-right sway, respectively. The high frequency band power factor (F4) reflects high frequency sway. The COP during the one leg standing posture for 90 sec was divided into three intervals (first interval : 0-30 sec, second interval : 30-60 sec, and third interval : 60-90 sec). F1 and F2 factors during the first interval were significantly higher than during the second and third intervals. The increase in front-back body sway may contribute to the ability to hold postural stability just after the front elevation of the right leg. F3 and F4 factors tended to increase with time. The duration time of balancing on one leg with eyes closed showed insignificant correlation with COP factors (F1-F4) in all intervals. COP factors may not be involved in balancing on one leg with eyes closed.

The purpose of this study was 1) to investigate the relationships between physical exercise and mental health of middle-aged and older adults and 2) to examine the degree of the effects of a physical exercise training program on the improvement of middle-aged and older adults' mental health. The subjects of 67 middle-aged and older adults (male=7, female=60, mean age=61.21, SD=4.91) were asked to answer a questionnaire composed of a face sheet and Mental Health Pattern (Hashimoto et al., 2000) on September 30^th, 2000. The experimental group consisted of 25 subjects (male=3, female=22, mean age=60.88, SD=4.58) out of 67 subjects participated in the physical exercise training program and answered the questionnaire twice : on the first day of the program, September 30^th, and on the last day, December 16^th. The physical exercise training program, once a week for 8 weeks, included 90-minute long moderate-impact exercise and stretching. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between physical activity, demographic variables and mental health, and a one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of the physical exercise training program. The results of the analyses showed that the predictor variables of “Belonging to an exercise and sport club” and “Duration of exercise and sports” were positively correlated with “QOL,” and that, in the experimental group, there was a statistically significant decline in “Psychological Stress” and “Physical Stress” between the first and the last day of the program, thus implying that belonging to an exercise and sport club was an important factor, directly or indirectly, in improving the QOL of middle-aged and older adults. This suggests that joining a program of exercise can make middle-aged and older adults contented and spirited in their everyday life. Comparison of the psychological well-being between the two groups, one with the physical exercise training program and the other without it, will be needed in future research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive strategies (decision making, situation judgment, cognitive abilities) and the psychological-competitive ability of high school handball players. The subjects were 86 high school students who belonged to seven high school handball clubs (44 male, 42 female ; mean age=15.86, SD=0.71). In August 2006, the subjects first answered our questionnaire composed of a face sheet and Diagnostic Inventory of Psychological-Competitive Ability for Athletes (DIPCA.3 ; Tokunaga and Hashimoto, 2000), and then participated in our experiments that immediately followed the questionnaire survey. In the experiments, the subjects were asked to choose the most acceptable response to various situations of a handball game shown on the screen to evaluate their cognitive strategies (Decision Making and Situation Judgment, Cognitive Abilities). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the correlation between DIPCA.3 and cognitive strategic variables. In order to examine the demographic differences, t-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted with DIPCA.3 and cognitive strategic variables. The results of multiple regression analyses showed the statistically significant positive association of Competitive Motivation in DIPCA.3 with Situation Judgment and Spatial Cognition. In the results of one-way ANOVA, statistically significant differences were found in Situation Judgment between semi-regular players and non-regular players, in DIPCA.3 between center players and right-side players, and in Decision Making between center-players and post-players. Limited supports for the effect of Competitive Motivation in DIPCA.3 on the cognitive strategic variables were provided from the analyses. The results also suggest that psychological motivation and mental training can have an important role in enhancing the cognitive strategies of high school handball players.

The purpose of this study was to develop the Collective Efficacy Scale for Japanese High School Athletes (CES-JHSA) and to investigate the relationship between the collective efficacy, the adjustment to school athletic clubs and competitive social skills on Japanese high school students. The subjects were 243 Japanese male high school students who were in high school baseball club (mean age=16.24, SD=0.63). The subjects were asked to answer a questionnaire from December 2005 to January 2006. This questionnaire was composed of socio demographical items, Collective Efficacy Scale that was derived from the Collective Efficacy Questionnaire for Sports (Short et. al., 2005) which was translated from English into Japanese, Adjustment Scale for School Athletic Clubs (ASSAC) (Katsura et al., 1990) and Competitive Social Skills Scale (CSSS) (Sugiyama, 2001). Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to develop the CES-JHSA. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between CES-JHSA and ASSAC or CSSS. In order to confirm the CSSS―ASSAC―CES-JHSA Model, covariance structure analysis was conducted on three scales. The results showed that CES-JHSA included a three-factor solution with 12 items and acceptable statistical requirements of internal consistencies and structural validities. Multiple regression analyses indicated that CES-JHSA was significantly and positively correlated with both the ASSAC and the CSSS. The fit indices of the new model and path coefficients between CSSS and ASSAC, ASSAC and CES-JHSA were statistically significant. The major findings of this study supported that CES-JHSA satisfied statistical reliabilities and structural validities. Furthermore, positive correlations among the scales indicated that psychological interventions that were composed of social skills training and structural encounter group can be effective to enhance the collective efficacy. In future research, in order to explore the effects of psychological variables to sport performance level, performance variables should be analyzed in this structural model.

The purpose of this study is to compare the height of children attending elementary schools in Cambodia with the Japanese in the same age. It is the comparison of the difference in terms of physical strength ability among the districts in Cambodia. The subjects of height measurement are 2336 girls and 2480 boys of phnom penh city (PNH), battambang stat (BTB), kompong cham state (KCM), shanouk ville state (SHV), kompong chhnang state (KCH), svay rieng state (SVR), kratie state (KRT), and rattanak kiri state (RNK). The subjects of physical fitness tests are girls and boys of 1 city (PNH) and 4 states (BTB, SHV, SVR, RNK). And the research was made with regard to sit-up, trunk-flexion, side-step, 20m-shuttle-run, 50m-dash and standing-long-jump. The children in the Cambodia were shorter than the Japanese children both girls and boys, and the growing-speed of the children in the Cambodia were slower than Japanese. Sit-up, side-step, 20m-shuttle-run, standing-long-jump, there were for significant difference among districts. There were no significant difference among girls and boys in terms of trunk-flexion and 50m-dash among districts.

This study surveyed the college sports in China from 1949 to the present. Through this survey, it has become clear that the competition level in the college sports in China has been improved since the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China introduced the system called “Recruitment of high-level athletes at universities” in 1987. Then the status regarding the high-level athletes at universities was examined. It revealed several problems surrounding the issues of attendance and enrollment management, training procedures, competition records, activity expenses, and coaching.