Let your clients fight dragons: A Rapid Evidence Assessment regarding the therapeutic utility of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’

Abstract

With an increasing public interest in the roleplaying game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ (D&D) comes the claim it holds psychological benefits. While therapeutic roleplay is empirically well established, the evidence surrounding D&D is unclear. The current study aims to summarize the literature pertaining this topic and present possible avenues for the implementation of D&D in psychological interventions. A Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) was conducted following the standards by the Centre for Evidence-Based Management. Relevant search strings were entered in seven databases (e.g., PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Child Development & Adolescent Studies). Only papers published in English language till September 2020 were considered and their quality appraised. The thematic analysis of 13 studies yielded four themes: No unified personality type of D&D players,
stakeholders’ attitude about D&D, lack of maladaptive coping associated with D&D, and potential psychological benefits of D&D. The results appear promising, but preliminary. Practical implications are contextualized with the wider literature.