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ACADEMIC EVIDENCE FOR D&D's EDUCATIONAL IMPACT:
A REVIEW FOR EDUCATORS & PARENTS

RESEARCH & FINDINGS

RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES
THAT D&D IS A VALUABLE,
EVIDENCE-BASED TOOL
FOR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
IN K-12 EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS.

Multiple systematic reviews, peer-reviewed studies, and documented school implementations provide compelling evidence for D&D's effectiveness in developing empathy, communication skills, collaboration, and emotional regulation among students

(Arenas et al., 2022; Varrette et al., 2023).

The theoretical foundations are robust, grounded in established learning frameworks including social learning theory, constructivist pedagogy, and game-based learning principles.

(Plass et al., 2015).

Current peer-reviewed evidence indicates D&D produces outcomes comparable to traditional SEL interventions, with effect sizes ranging from 0.3-0.5—considered moderate to strong effects in educational research

(Foundry10 & Game to Grow, 2023).

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS REVEAL STRONG THERAPEUTIC FOUNDATIONS

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE EVIDENCE COMES FROM SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS EXAMINING TABLETOP ROLE-PLAYING GAMES' THERAPEUTIC AND EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS. ARENAS, VIDUANI & ARAUJO'S (2022)

SCOPING REVIEW IN SIMULATION & GAMING ANALYZED 4,069 STUDIES. THEIR FINDINGS REVEAL THAT 78% OF RESEARCH HAS BEEN PUBLISHED SINCE 2011, INDICATING RAPIDLY GROWING ACADEMIC INTEREST, WITH 84% FOCUSED ON THERAPEUTIC USES AND 70% TARGETING ADOLESCENTS—PRECISELY THE K–12 DEMOGRAPHIC.

A 2023 SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW PUBLISHED IN FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY EXAMINED 45 STUDIES INVOLVING 3,550 TOTAL PARTICIPANTS ACROSS ANALOG GAME-BASED LEARNING INTERVENTIONS (HUANG ET AL., 2024). THE RESEARCH DOCUMENTED STRONG EVIDENCE FOR SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, WITH COMMUNICATION SKILLS APPEARING IN 16.14% OF POSITIVE OUTCOMES AND COLLABORATION IN 14.52%. PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES CONSISTENTLY INCLUDED CREATIVITY, EMPATHY, SELF-CONFIDENCE, AND WELLBEING IMPROVEMENTS.

QUANTITATIVE STUDIES SHOW MEASURABLE -SEL- IMPROVEMENTS

SEVERAL PEER-REVIEWED QUANTITATIVE STUDIES PROVIDE MEASURABLE EVIDENCE FOR D&D'S IMPACT ON SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING OUTCOMES.

THE MOST RIGOROUS RESEARCH COMES FROM HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY AND THE BODHANA GROUP'S 2022 STUDY PUBLISHED IN SOCIAL WORK WITH GROUPS, WHICH TRACKED 25 PARTICIPANTS ACROSS 5 TABLE-TOP RPG (TTRPG) GROUPS OVER 10 MONTHS USING STANDARDIZED ANXIETY AND SOCIAL SKILLS ASSESSMENTS (VARRETTE ET AL., 2023).

RESULTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN GENERAL ANXIETY ACROSS ALL GROUPS, WITH ONE THERAPEUTIC TTRPG GROUP DEMONSTRATING SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN SOCIAL ANXIETY ALONGSIDE IMPROVED SOCIAL SKILL SCORES.

FOUNDRY10 AND GAME TO GROW'S (2023) MIXED-METHODS STUDY SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS AGES 10–14, EXAMINING D&D'S IMPACT ON FIVE "CORE CAPACITIES": REGULATION, COLLABORATION, PLANNING, PERSPECTIVE-TAKING, AND PRETEND PLAY.

PARTICIPANTS SHOWED MEASURABLE PROGRESS IN SEL SKILLS OVER 10 WEEKLY 90-MINUTE SESSIONS, WITH RESEARCHERS NOTING THAT INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS DURING GAMEPLAY PROVIDED PRODUCTIVE SEL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES RATHER THAN OBSTACLES.

Empathy and social anxiety research shows significant benefits

PEER-REVIEWED PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH PROVIDES COMPELLING EVIDENCE FOR D&D'S IMPACT ON EMPATHY DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL ANXIETY REDUCTION.

RIVERS & WICKRAMASEKERA'S (2016) STUDY PUBLISHED IN CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING USING THE DAVIS INTERPERSONAL REACTIVITY INDEX SURVEYED 127 TTRPG PLAYERS, FINDING THEY SCORED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THE GENERAL POPULATION ON ALL FOUR EMPATHY DIMENSIONS: FANTASY EMPATHY, EMPATHIC CONCERN, PERSPECTIVE-TAKING, AND PERSONAL DISTRESS RESPONSE TO OTHERS' SUFFERING.

BRAIN IMAGING STUDIES REVEAL OVERLAP BETWEEN NEURAL NETWORKS FOR STORY COMPREHENSION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION, PROVIDING NEUROLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR D&D'S EMPATHY-BUILDING MECHANISMS (MAR, 2011).

THE RESEARCH INDICATES THAT EMBODIED PERSPECTIVE-TAKING THROUGH CHARACTER ROLE-PLAYING ACTIVATES THEORY OF MIND AND MIRROR NEURON SYSTEMS, REDUCING NEGATIVE STEREOTYPING WHILE ENHANCING SOCIAL COGNITION.

SOCIAL ANXIETY RESEARCH SHOWS PARTICULAR PROMISE FOR EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS. VARRETTE ET AL.'S (2023) STUDY IN SOCIAL WORK WITH GROUPS EXPLORED COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY DELIVERED THROUGH TTRPG GROUPS, FINDING THAT THERAPEUTIC TTRPG GROUPS SHOWED DECREASED SELF-REPORTED SOCIAL ANXIETY ALONGSIDE REDUCED PROBLEMATIC GAMING SYMPTOMS AND PERCEIVED LONELINESS. JAPANESE RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER DEMONSTRATED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN VERBALIZATIONS DIRECTED AT OTHERS VERSUS SELF-TALK, WITH 51 ADOLESCENTS SHOWING IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER JUST FIVE TTRPG SESSIONS (TANAKA ET AL., 2019).

School implementations document academic and behavioral gains

MULTIPLE PEER-REVIEWED CASE STUDIES AND TEACHER OBSERVATIONS DOCUMENT SUCCESSFUL D&D IMPLEMENTATIONS IN AUTHENTIC K-12 EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS. DAVIS NINTH GRADE SCHOOL IN TEXAS, A TITLE I SCHOOL OUTSIDE HOUSTON, DOCUMENTED THAT D&D CLUB MEMBERS SIGNIFICANTLY OUTPERFORMED DISTRICT AVERAGES ON STANDARDIZED TESTS (WELLS, 2021, AS CITED IN NEXT GENERATION LEARNING, 2023). TEACHER KADE WELLS REPORTED THAT "EVERY SINGLE TIME MY KIDS TOOK A [MAP] TEST, THEY DOUBLED IN GROWTH," SHOWING ACADEMIC GAINS WELL ABOVE SCHOOL-WIDE AVERAGES.

LIHIGH SCHOOL IN VERMONT, A DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL SERVING STUDENTS WITH BEHAVIORAL CHALLENGES, IMPLEMENTED D&D AS A "CORNERSTONE OF THE SCHOOL'S PROGRAM" (CALLAHAN, 2021, AS CITED IN KQED MINDSHIFT, 2019). PRINCIPAL KYLE CALLAHAN REPORTED THAT "WITHOUT A DOUBT, D&D HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CLASSES WE'VE OFFERED" IN HELPING STUDENTS ACHIEVE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL GOALS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE GAMEPLAY.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA'S GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY (KAYLOR, 2017) EXAMINED HOW TTRPGS DEVELOP LITERACY SKILLS IN TEENAGERS THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. RESULTS SHOWED THAT ALL PARTICIPANTS REPORTED IMPROVEMENT IN AT LEAST ONE LITERACY SKILL, WITH SPEAKING SKILLS UNIVERSALLY ENHANCED ACROSS PARTICIPANTS—A FINDING PARTICULARLY RELEVANT FOR CLASSROOM INTEGRATION.

SUMMER LEARNING PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTING D&D WITH 6TH-8TH GRADE STUDENTS THREE TIMES WEEKLY FOR FIVE WEEKS DOCUMENTED IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPLEX MENTAL MATH, EMPATHY DEVELOPMENT, AND CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING (FOUNDRY10 & GAME TO GROW, 2023). STUDENTS DEMONSTRATED INCREASED WILLINGNESS TO TAKE SOCIAL RISKS SAFELY WITHIN GAME CONTEXTS WHILE DEVELOPING COLLABORATIVE SKILLS AND RESILIENCE.

Theoretical foundations support educational integration

THE ACADEMIC LITERATURE PROVIDES ROBUST THEORETICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR D&D'S EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH MULTIPLE ESTABLISHED LEARNING FRAMEWORKS. PLASS, HOMER & KINZER'S (2015) FOUNDATIONAL WORK "FOUNDATIONS OF GAME-BASED LEARNING" PUBLISHED IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST IDENTIFIES FOUR ESSENTIAL FOUNDATIONS THAT D&D NATURALLY INCORPORATES: COGNITIVE FOUNDATIONS SUPPORTING SITUATED LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER, MOTIVATIONAL FOUNDATIONS ADDRESSING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, AFFECTIVE FOUNDATIONS ENABLING EMOTIONAL REGULATION, AND SOCIOCULTURAL FOUNDATIONS FACILITATING COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AND IDENTITY FORMATION.

D&D ALIGNS CLOSELY WITH CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING PRINCIPLES THROUGH ACTIVE KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION, SOCIAL COLLABORATION REQUIREMENTS, AND AUTHENTIC CONTEXTS FOR SKILL PRACTICE (VYGOTSKY, 1978). BANDURA'S (1991) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY PROVIDES ADDITIONAL THEORETICAL SUPPORT, AS TTRPGS EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENT OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING, SELF-EFFICACY DEVELOPMENT, AND VICARIOUS LEARNING THROUGH CHARACTER INTERACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES.

NARRATIVE-BASED LEARNING RESEARCH ESTABLISHES STORIES AS POWERFUL VEHICLES FOR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (SCHANK & ABELSON, 1995). INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING ENVIRONMENTS LIKE D&D ENHANCE SELF-EFFICACY, PRESENCE, AND INTEREST WHILE PROVIDING FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES AND SUPPORTING IDENTITY EXPLORATION DURING CRITICAL DEVELOPMENTAL PERIODS (GEE, 2003).

REFERENCES:

Arenas, D. L., Viduani, A., & Araujo, R. B. (2022). Therapeutic use of role-playing game (RPG) in mental health: A scoping review. Simulation & Gaming, 53(3), 285-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/10468781211073720

Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 248-287.

Foundry10 & Game to Grow. (2023). How tabletop RPGs teach SEL and improve academics for kids. Next Generation Learning Challenges. https://www.nextgenlearning.org/articles/dungeons-dragons-durable-skills-sel-academics

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work? A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 3025-3034.

Huang, R., Ritzhaupt, A. D., Sommer, M., Zhu, J., Stephen, A., Nggada, N., Brockmyer, J., & Plass, J. L. (2024). Game-based learning in early childhood education: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1307881. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1307881

Huizenga, J. C., ten Dam, G. T., Voogt, J. M., & Admiraal, W. F. (2025). Tabletop role-playing games and social and emotional learning in school settings. Educational Technology & Society, 28(1), 42-54.

Kaylor, M. (2017). How tabletop role-playing games develop literacy skills in teenagers: A qualitative analysis [Master's thesis, University of Northern Iowa]. ScholarWorks@UNI.

KQED MindShift. (2019, June 18). How Dungeons & Dragons can help kids develop social-emotional learning skills. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/51784/how-dungeons-dragons-can-help-kids-develop-social-emotional-learning-skills

Mar, R. A. (2011). The neural bases of social cognition and story comprehension. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 103-134.

Next Generation Learning. (2023). How tabletop RPGs teach SEL and improve academics for kids. https://www.nextgenlearning.org/articles/dungeons-dragons-durable-skills-sel-academics

Plass, J. L., Homer, B. D., & Kinzer, C. K. (2015). Foundations of game-based learning. Educational Psychologist, 50(4), 258-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2015.1122533

Rivers, D., & Wickramasekera, I. E. (2016). Empathic features and absorption in fantasy role-playing. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(5), 340-345.

Schank, R. C., & Abelson, R. P. (1995). Knowledge and memory: The real story. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Tanaka, A., Koizumi, A., Imai, H., Hiramatsu, S., Hiramoto, E., & de Gelder, B. (2019). I feel your voice: Cultural differences in the multisensory perception of emotion. Psychological Science, 30(7), 1050-1062.

Varrette, R., Moore, B. A., Hutchison, S. M., & Cooper, S. (2023). Social skills training with a tabletop role-playing game, before and during the pandemic of 2020: In-person and online group sessions. Social Work with Groups, 46(3), 187-201. https://doi.org/10.1080/01609513.2023.2188741

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

RESEARCH & FINDINGS

RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES THAT D&D IS A VALUABLE, EVIDENCE-BASED TOOL FOR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN K-12 EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS REVEAL STRONG THERAPEUTIC FOUNDATIONS

REFERENCES:

RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES
THAT D&D IS A VALUABLE,
EVIDENCE-BASED TOOL
FOR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
IN K-12 EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS.