Children's perceptions of vulnerability to illness and accidents.

rT HREE PREMISES underlie a continuing investigation of children's perceptions of vulner. ability to illness and accidents. First, whether a person engages in some preventive or adaptive health behavior is related to whether he perceives himself as vulnerable to some illness or accident (1). Second, "organizational patterns" have important implications for the prediction and understanding of behavior (2-5). Third, behavioral growth and the developmental link between the adult and child is continuous. The research also has practical value. Authorities of the World Health Organization have suggested that systematic research is needed to determine the effectiveness of educational programs and the relationship of health behavior to a person's beliefs and attitudes (6). Moreover, if health educators knew more about the "organization" of various health beliefs at different ages, for example, the expectan-