BEHAVIORAL-ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS IN YOUTH SPORTS

Behavioral assessment and interventions have found an increasing range of applications in both research and applied work with youth sport po pulations. Behavioral assessment has been used for both descriptive an d program evaluation purposes, and one of its major uses has been in t he study of coaching behaviors and their effects on young athletes. Op erant and cognitive-behavioral interventions have been targeted at bot h athletic and psychosocial outcomes, and they have proven to be effec tive in both areas. Unresolved issues and promising areas for future r esearch are discussed, and it is concluded that the sport environment is an ideal naturalistic laboratory for behavioral research and interv entions.