Courtney G. Matthews, a PhD researcher at the University of Canterbury, discusses her Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology paper examining Dungeons & Dragons through a social identity lens to test whether tabletop role-playing games function as a “social cure” rather than a “social curse.” Surveying 305 current D&D players in New Zealand, her study assessed wellbeing, belonging, and how participants rated multiple social groups for importance, supportiveness, positivity, and self-representation. Players rated their D&D groups as highly important, supportive, positive, and representative—comparable to family and friends—despite spending less time with them, averaging about nine interaction days per month. The conversation highlights loneliness, the accessibility and low cost of TTRPGs, a notable 17% transgender or gender-diverse sample without targeted recruitment, and future directions including larger studies and community or university-based interventions such as library and afterschool programs.

See Courtney and myself at DND MDT podcast.

*Note opinions are our own and not those of any organisations we are affiliated with.

00:00 Meet Courtney Matthews

00:44 Study Overview and Theory

02:25 Method and Participant Mapping

03:17 Social Cure Findings

05:53 Scaling Up Future Research

06:13 Community Programs and Networks

07:35 Diversity and Inclusion Insights

09:44 Closing Takeaways and Thanks

Dr Christopher Timms, Family Doctor and Dungeon Master, explores the emerging field of Dungeons and Dragons for health.

What if a solution to our mental health crisis, loneliness pandemic and lack of tribe, was a script for a D20, rolled regularly.

#dnd #GP #familymedicine #ttrpg

CJ chats with Emily Messina, an associate professor of rehabilitation and recreational therapy at Florida International University, about her research on Dungeons & Dragons as “serious leisure” using Stebbins’ Serious Leisure Framework. Emily explains her background in recreational therapy and leisure research, what drew her to study D&D, and how long-term commitment to campaigns can foster skill development, social connection, identity, and wellbeing.

They discuss generational differences in sustaining play as life responsibilities change, parallels with a network of doctors who use D&D for ongoing social cohesion, and why the long-running nature of campaigns can be a barrier to implementing D&D in typical clinical settings. Emily also describes her work teaching leisure education in a prison and her interest in studying an active prison D&D group where long-term participation is possible.

The episode closes with a note that the conversation is personal and an invitation for potential collaborations within the D&D community, including Wizards of the Coast.

00:00 Welcome & Introducing Dr. Emily Messina’s D&D Leisure Research

01:17 What Recreational Therapy Is (and How It Led to D&D)

02:38 Serious Leisure Explained: Why D&D ‘Counts’

02:56 Next Research Steps: Prison Leisure Education & Life Responsibilities

04:27 Generational Change: Keeping a Campaign Going Through Adult Life

06:13 Correctional Settings Background & Studying the Prison D&D Group

07:36 D&D as Therapy: Promise, Evidence Gaps, and Practical Barriers

10:35 Key Findings: D&D Checks the Serious Leisure Boxes

11:16 Wrap-Up, Collaboration Invite & Farewell

#dnd #dndpodcast #ttrpg

Content is not necessarily the view of any organisation we are associated with.