Verifying the efficacy of using videos as educational tools for gambling prevention among adolescents

Introduction. Despite the restrictions to gamble for youth, a large number of adolescents are involved in gambling acti vities and are at risk for developing gambling problems (see Calado et al., 2016, for a review). For this reason, prevention of problem gambling among adolescents has become central in research and practice. Several of the gambling prevention programs used multi-media tools as videos or online materials as delivery mode, even without teacher or trainer intervention (e.g., Ladouceur et al., 2004; Todirita & Lupu, 2013). In this study, we aimed to verify the efficacy of an educational inter vention about gambling with adolescents only based on vi deos. Two videos were selected; one focused on cognitive-ma thematic aspects related to gambling (video A), and one with an experiential and socio-affective content (video B). Method. An experimental design was conducted with four groups (video A; video B; videos A and B, neutral video) and three measurements (pre-test, post-test, and follow-up sessions). Participants were 447 Italian adolescents (72% Males, Mean Age = 16.82) attending different high schools in the North of Italy. Classes were randomly assigned to the four conditions. A battery of self-report measures were administered at the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up, in order to verify changes over time in gambling-related knowledge and cognitive distor tions, random knowledge, gambling expectancies, gambling attitude, and gambling behavior. Expected Results. We expect that students who saw both the videos will show significant changes in cognitive as well as affective factors at the post-test, and also significant changes in gambling behavior at the follow-up.