Session Description: This presentation is an introduction to youth problem gambling prevalence rates and risk and protective factors. In addition, participants will begin to understand the impact gambling expansion has had on adolescent digital media use.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe youth problem gambling prevalence rates.
• Consider risk and protective factors for youth problem gambling.
• Discuss the impact of gambling expansion on youth behaviors.

Alison Wood, MSW, MPA
Founder, Level Up, Promotion and Prevention, LLC

Alison Wood is the NC Problem Gambling Program Youth Prevention Coordinator with TELUS Health. She is also the founder of Level Up, Promotion and Prevention, LLC. In North Carolina, she manages prevention grants by training and providing technical support to teachers and after-school staff, and in the U.S. and beyond, she provides training on adolescent problematic behaviors in gambling, gaming, and digital media use and evidence-based curriculum. She has partnered with researchers to develop curriculum and spearheaded an initiative to provide asynchronous modules on the prevention and treatment of youth problematic behaviors in gambling, gaming, and digital media. She is a passionate advocate for youth prevention education and mental health promotion and believes expanded efforts in prevention research is vital.