Background: An inverse relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms has been reported in adolescents, but this has not been confirmed in university students. Motivational readiness to physical activity could be an important key to reducing the risk of depressive symptoms in university students who have few opportunities to exercise.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between physical activity, including the concept of motivational readiness, and depressive symptoms in university freshmen.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey among 886 university freshmen（540 male and 346 female, mean age: 18.4±0.6 years）. Physical activity was evaluated using a questionnaire developed by Okazaki combined the American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association guidelines with the stages-of-change model. Participants were sorted into 7 groups based on the results of a modified version of this questionnaire. The severity of depressive symptoms was assessed with the total score on the Japanese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9（PHQ-9）, and the presence of depressive symptoms was determined with a total score of 10 or above. Our online questionnaire on multifactor lifestyle for university students was used to obtain data on the confounding factors of depressive symptoms（eating behavior, sleep, stress）. Data were analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression model.

Results: The percentages of physical activity in each group were as follows: 9.5% in the pre-contemplation group（PreCG）, 25.6% in the contemplation group（CG）, 27.9% in the preparation group（PG）, 7.2% in the low physical activity group（LPAG）, 15.6% in the high living activity group（HLAG）, 4.3% in the high sports activity group（HSAG）, and 9.9% in the high physical activity group（HPAG）. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 12.7%. After adjusting for sex and related confounders mentioned above, the CG, PG, LPAG, HLAG, HSAG, and HPAG had odds ratios of 0.39（95% CI＝0.19, 0.83）, 0.38（95% CI＝0.18, 0.81）, 0.28（95% CI＝0.09, 0.81）, 0.23（95% CI＝0.09, 0.56）, 0.45（95% CI＝0.11, 1.60）, and 0.37（95% CI＝0.14, 0.98）for likelihood of having depressive symptoms, compared to the PreCG（p for trend＝0.05）.

Conclusions: This study showed that the odds ratio of depressive symptoms was the lowest in the HLAG. Decreased odds ratios were also found in the CG and PG, which did not engage in regular physical activity. These results indicate that contemplation of physical activity and regular physical activity may have similar effects on preventing depressive symptoms in university freshmen. The causal relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in university freshmen must be clarified using a longitudinal study.

Background: To increase the health awareness and healthy behaviors of schoolchildren, it is indispensable to improve the professional qualities and abilities of Yogo teachers, who play a central role in school health practices. Toward this end, it is considered essential for Yogo teachers to form and develop their professional identity. However, the factors that may influence their professional identity have not been clearly identified as no scale for professional identity has been developed for Yogo teachers.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the factors related to the formation of professional identity among Yogo teachers using the professional identity scale for Yogo teachers （Professional Identity Scale for Yogo Teachers, hereafter PISY）.

Methods: An anonymous, self-report questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 1,960 Yogo teachers working in three prefectures in the Tohoku, Kanto, and Koshinetsu regions. The survey included 5 items on basic attributes, 48 items on PISY, and 29 items concerning factors relevant to a Yogo teacher's professional identity. To identify the relevance of elements, such as Yogo teachers' professional philosophy, attitude, and work environment, factor analyses were conducted on 25 items concerning relevant factors using maximum likelihood factor analysis with promax rotation. Correlations with PISY and between relevant factors (RF) were examined using Pearson's correlation coefficient. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine Yogo teachers' career selection timing and decision-making process, and a t-test was used to examine relevance to everyday life.

Results: Factor analyses of Yogo teachers’ professional philosophy, attitude, and work environment, among other factors, resulted in the extraction of “sense of discrimination and isolation in the workplace” (RF I)), “social support in the workplace” (RF II)), “knowledge and skills as a Yogo teacher” (RF III)), and “sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in the Yogo teacher profession” (RF IV). Among these, RF I, II, III, and IV (all relevant factors) were found to correlate with PISY total score (from factor I (F I) to factor IV (F IV)). Concerning career decision timing, PISY F IV, “conviction of career choice as a Yogo teacher,” demonstrated a significant difference, whereas PISY F III, “intention to make social contributions,” F IV, “conviction of career choice as a Yogo teacher,” and PISY total score were found to have significant differences for career selection process. A weak but significant positive correlation was identified for level of satisfaction in everyday life and PISY total score.

Conclusion: Improving“sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in the Yogo teacher profession,” “knowledge and skills as a Yogo teacher,” and “social support in the workplace,” which facilitates feelings of professional accomplishment and approval, are essential for the formation and development of professional identity among Yogo teachers. Further, it is desirable to promote career education that accounts for teachers’ career timing and decision-making process.

Background: In 2015, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology （MEXT） published a report on sexual minority students, including those with gender identity disorder. This promoted discussions on sexual minorities in schools. Reports showed that teachers did not respond to such students adequately, and teachers may hurt the feelings of sexual minority students, suggesting that school is not a safe space for them. In particular, support for sexual minority students in physical education classes is important as shown in the MEXT report.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate and identify the main characteristics of the knowledge and attitudes of school teacher trainees who majored in health and physical education （HPE） toward sexual minorities.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to 393 students belonging to “A” university for training students to be teachers. There were 377 questionnaires recovered and 351 valid respondents （response rate ＝89.3%）, of which 127 students majored in HPE, and 224 students majored in other subjects. The survey included basic information regarding respondents, learning experiences and knowledge about sexual minorities, attitudes toward sexual minorities, including homophobia （irrational fear and hatred of homosexuals）, transphobia （irrational fear and hatred of transgender individuals）, seeing and hearing aggression toward sexual minorities, experiences involving sexual minorities, and perspectives on education.

Results: In the group of students who majored in HPE, “normative-men” （cis-gendered, heterosexual） tended to make sexual minorities invisible and reinforce homophobia and transphobia more than “normativewomen” （cis-gendered, heterosexual）. In the group of “normative-men, ”students who majored in HPE showed this tendency more than students who majored in other subjects. Students who were not close to sexual minorities tended to make sexual minorities invisible and reinforce homophobia and transphobia more than students who were close to them.

Conclusion: This study showed that the students who majored in HPE demonstrated strong homophobia and transphobia more than the students majoring in other subjects.

However, many of students who recognized the existence of sexual minorities had known others who had come out or disclosed their sexual identity; the homophobia and transphobia of such students subsequently weakened. Thus, the act of coming out is a key factor in encouraging awareness of the existence of sexual minorities.

Background: To prevent youth risk behaviors, which is an important task of school health education in Japan, it was showed that we have focused on norm-consciousness （Kataoka C et al., 2010; 2012）.

Objective: In this study, we developed a class model that emphasizes the fostering of norm-consciousness in high school students and examined the efficacy of the model by before-after study design.

Methods: Participants of this study were a total of 40 students (20 males, 20 females) of two classes in their second year at a 3-year Japanese public high school that agreed to cooperate with the survey through the snowball sampling method. The person who was responsible for the class was a health and physical education teacher at the high school. The class was evaluated by before-after study design. A two-hour class was split into an hour class per day and was held for two consecutive days in December 2017. A pre-survey was carried out a week before, and a post-survey was carried out on the day after the second day of the class. The class was held during a special homeroom activity time.

Results: Positive responses were obtained from the students in the process evaluation, which was carried out to avoid type III errors. Regarding the contents of the class, 92.5% of the students thought that the class was easy to understand, and 87.5% became interested in the class. Regarding the learning condition, 92.5% felt that they were able to deepen their thoughts and creativity, and 95.0% were able to actively participate in group learning. In the impact evaluation, the score for the scale of norm-consciousness at the school significantly increased after the class was held （p<0.05）. Furthermore, as the norm-consciousness before and after the class was qualitatively examined by text mining, it was found that the students deepened their understanding on norm-consciousness.

Conclusion: The developed class model was considered to be effective for improving norm-consciousness related to risk behaviors.