Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. It is unknown to what degree purposefully striking the ball with one’s head (i.e. heading) contributes to concussions within youth soccer. There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve heading technique. Due to the numerous applications of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach a wide variety of behaviors, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BST to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. A task analysis was produced to score each header. Results indicated that BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches evaluated video recordings of baseline and training sessions for each player and rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.
","abstract_html":"<p>Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. It is unknown to what degree purposefully striking the ball with one’s head (i.e. heading) contributes to concussions within youth soccer. There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve heading technique. Due to the numerous applications of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach a wide variety of behaviors, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BST to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. A task analysis was produced to score each header. Results indicated that BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches evaluated video recordings of baseline and training sessions for each player and rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Quintero, Laura"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joe Olmi","James Moore","Kyle Rowsey"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:50Z","subjects":["Behavioral Skills Training","sports","soccer","behavior analysis","heading","BST","Applied Behavior Analysis","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/362","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joe Olmi","James Moore","Kyle Rowsey"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Quintero, Laura"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-04-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Behavioral Skills Training","sports","soccer","behavior analysis","heading","BST","Applied Behavior Analysis","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/362"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. It is unknown to what degree purposefully striking the ball with one’s head (i.e. heading) contributes to concussions within youth soccer. There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve heading technique. Due to the numerous applications of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach a wide variety of behaviors, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BST to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. A task analysis was produced to score each header. Results indicated that BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches evaluated video recordings of baseline and training sessions for each player and rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Correct Heading Skills to Youth Soccer Players"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joe Olmi","James Moore","Kyle Rowsey"],"dc:creator":["Quintero, Laura"],"dc:date.available":["2018-04-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. It is unknown to what degree purposefully striking the ball with one’s head (i.e. heading) contributes to concussions within youth soccer. There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve heading technique. Due to the numerous applications of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach a wide variety of behaviors, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BST to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. A task analysis was produced to score each header. Results indicated that BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches evaluated video recordings of baseline and training sessions for each player and rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/362"],"dc:subject":["Behavioral Skills Training","sports","soccer","behavior analysis","heading","BST","Applied Behavior Analysis","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Correct Heading Skills to Youth Soccer Players"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:50Z"}