Serena King, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Hamline and a clinical psychologist. She received her PhD and MA from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and an undergraduate degree in psychology (with honors) from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Serena is trained in clinical psychology research, practice, and consulting. She completed her year-long APA-approved internship at Hennepin County Medical Center and has periodically practiced psychology in the community during her time as a professor. Serena has clinical experience working in a variety of hospitals, clinics, and private practices. She holds an International Gaming Disorder Certificate (IGDC).
Research and consulting
Her work spans basic etiology research, prevention, and intervention in population-based samples and underserved communities (gambling, gaming, and substance use disorders). She is a scientific, clinical, and psychoeducation consultant on research projects in the community (often engaging Hamline students in her research) and has also offered professional training for clinicians on addiction and mental health disorders (substance and behavioral addictions) on a national level. Serena has served as a scientific and clinical consultant on several grants on prevention and intervention approaches in underserved communities, and developed culturally specific opiate prevention and harm reduction approaches, engaging a multidisciplinary team of doctors, mental health, and pharmacy professionals.
Expertise
Serena has expertise in addiction, problem gambling, gaming, and mental health disorders and has published in a variety of venues on these topics. She has also published in areas of gender and ethnic disparities in mental health and substance use. She has a record of published research in the area of addiction (substance use disorders and gambling addiction) and has scientific and teaching interests in deviant, acting-out behaviors (behavioral impulsivity). Serena received an early investigator grant from the International Center for Responsible Gambling to examine a large-scale twin study of gambling behavior and has been granted consulting work in research on problem gambling, gaming, and substance use disorders. She has also secured funding for research and consulting in addiction and problem gambling.
Additionally, Serena has expertise in youth gaming, gambling, and substance use and has published papers in these areas. She is also active in prevention work on gaming, gambling, and substance use.
Mentorship and professional development with students
Serena has helped establish an ongoing relationship with Hazelden's Graduate School of Addiction Studies and the Hamline psychology department. She has mentored a variety of honors projects and collaborative research proposals, including studies of mental health interventions, substance use, gambling, and addiction. She engages with students in her research group to investigate these lines of inquiry.
Serena teaches courses in general psychology, addictive disorders, psychopathology, psychopathic and antisocial behaviors, a first-year seminar on emotion and the brain, and courses on mindfulness and health, the biological bases of psychopathology, cross-cultural psychology, and clinical health psychology. Her teaching style is highly interactive and provides practical experiences that integrate science with clinical approaches. Students in her classes will find the experience intellectually stimulating, engaging, challenging, and memorable.
Serena says "My hope for students is that they have a meaningful and memorable experience in my class learning about the science and practice of psychology. Creating real-world applications of psychology to life and practice is a major goal of my teaching philosophy. Practical connections to the material create a motivating and interesting learning experience. Psychology has far-ranging applications to our world to shed light on processes, to alleviate suffering and enhance the human condition. Together, I work with students to deeply examine psychological research, teaching and clinical applications in order to consider solutions to challenges in the human experience and our world. Mentorship and meaningful human personal connections are both essential for professional development and a major part of my professional mission is to help students enter the pre-professional realm in their fields or meet their chosen goals for their college experience."
Together, I work with students to deeply examine psychological research, teaching, and clinical applications in order to consider solutions to challenges in the human experience and our world. Mentorship and meaningful human personal connections are both essential for professional development.
—Serena King
Representative publications
(*indicates Hamline student author)
King, S. M., Adamyk, K., Weinburd, J., & Stinchfield, R. (2025). Frequent and Problem Gambling in Public School Students. JAMA pediatrics, e250925. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.0925
Richard, J., & King, S. M. (2023). Annual Research Review: Emergence of problem gambling from childhood to emerging adulthood: a systematic review. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 64(4), 645–688. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13713
King, S.M., & Whelan, J.P.* (2020). Gambling and Alcohol Problems during the College Years: Personality, Physical and Emotional Health and Gambling Beliefs. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 41, 1095 - 1103.
King, S.M., Wasberg, S.M.H.*, & Wollmuth, A.* (2020). Gambling problems, risk factors, community knowledge, and impact in a US Lao immigrant and refugee community sample. Public Health, 184, 17-21.
King, S.M., Doppler, G.*, Wollmuth, A.*, Wasberg, S.M.*, & Walls, J.* (2019). Gambling Behaviors and Attitudes in Laotian Community-Based Sample: Gambling problems, risk factors and perceptions of help seeking and treatment. Professional Psychology Research and Practice 51, 1, 51-60.
King, S.M., McCleary, J., Winters, K.C., & Dupont, R. (2019). Abstinence from Substance Use in the Monitoring the Future Study: 2014-2015. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 1-8.
King, S.M., Saunders, G.R., Winters, K., Iacono, W.G., & McGue, M. (2019). Where Do Gambling Problems Fit in the Structure of Psychopathology During Emerging Adulthood?: Evidence from a Community Based Twin Sample. International Gambling Studies. 1-13.
King, S.M., Keyes, M., Winters, K.C., McGue, M., & Iacono, W.G. (2017). Genetic and Environmental Origins of Gambling Behaviors from Ages 18 to 25: A Longitudinal Twin Family Study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 31, 3.
Nyman, J. , Dowd, B., Hakes, J., Winters, K., & King, S.M. (2013). Work and Non-Pathological Gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 29, 61-81.
King, S.M., Abrams, K., & Wilkinson, T. (2010). Personality, Gender, and Family History in the Prediction of College Gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies.
King, S.M., Keyes, M., Malone, S., Elkins, I., Legrand, L., Iacono, W.G., & McGue, M. (2009). Parental Alcohol Dependence and the transmission of adolescent behavioral disinhibition: A study of adoptive and non-adoptive families. Addiction, 104, 578-586.