Playing Dungeons & Dragons is great for social development

Researchers have identified one promising solution for the worsening epidemic of loneliness and unhappiness, especially among boys and men. Playing Dungeons & Dragons provides participants with a social connection, a creative outlet, and a sense of control that benefits their mental health.

The loneliness epidemic

Rates of social isolation have risen so high that the Office of the US Surgeon General recently issued a report advisory in 2023 entitled: “Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” The document emphasizes the healing effects of social connection and community.

Social isolation is simply bad for children’s development. A 2021 systematic review published in the magazine Revista Paulista Pediatrics found a strong link between social isolation and anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. Because social isolation leads to higher levels of cortisol and poorer cognitive development, it can lead to far-reaching effects on cognitive development and mental health.

Boys and men are facing a crisis of connection

Dr. Niobe Way, a professor of developmental psychology at New York University, has studied the social and emotional development of teenagers. Her book, “Rebels with a purpose: boys, reshaping ourselves and our culture”, draws on her almost 40 years of experience.

Way told CNN that as boys get older, the boy culture that discourages soft skills leads to boys breaking away from their soft sides. To some extent, our culture does this to all of us, but the effect is pronounced for boys. According to Way, boys cut off their emotional and relational intelligence when they begin to disconnect from their ability to listen curiously to themselves and others.

“We begin to disconnect from ourselves because we cannot express our soft side, which is natural and necessary for connection,” Way said. “You have to be willing to be vulnerable and soft to be connected to other people. So if you’re not willing to do that, you’ll have a hard time with other people.” The results for boys and men are depression, anxiety, loneliness, frustration and sometimes a sense of alienation in isolation that builds into anger.

Teens may not get the social support they need

Meanwhile, most parents don’t realize how lonely their children, especially their boys, are. While parents generally report that their children receive the social and emotional support they need, a new report By the National Center for Health Statistics notices that their children often disagree. The study looked at a nationally representative sample of 1,200 children aged 12 to 17 and their parents.

The study authors write that their findings indicate “a systematic bias in which parents consistently report higher levels of social and emotional support compared to their teen’s perception, and may thereby underestimate their teen’s perceived need for social and emotional support .” More than 40% of teens in that study said they couldn’t reliably get the social and emotional support they needed. The good news was that most teens said they usually got the support they needed.

Dungeons & Dragons offers a solution to loneliness

A new peer-reviewed one study from the University College of Cork in Ireland has found that playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is good for mental health in specific ways. D&D players experience social support, practice cooperation and can express themselves creatively. During the game, they enjoy a short and healthy escape from the stresses of everyday life, while at the same time experiencing a sense of control as they navigate through the game. The small study included six men, two women and two non-binary people, highlighting that the game is also fun for girls and women, and can provide a safe space for people with different gender identities.

For those who haven’t watched Netflix yet Stranger things, where the main characters bond while playing D&D together, the game is best played face-to-face. Players role-play as characters with certain abilities in a story-based scenario that is sometimes designed and always managed by their DM (dungeon master). As a pediatrician myself, the way the game provides players with a deep social experience while tapping into abilities important to their development is itself supportive.

This video from popular YouTuber One Shot Questers explains what Dungeons & Dragons is:

“The social support fostered by playing D&D gives players an emotional and social connection and provides them with a space in which they can express themselves freely,” said study leader and PhD researcher at the UCC School of Applied Psychology Orla Walsh in a press release. Many group activities can give us social support, but Orla finds that the collaborative storytelling aspect of D&D generates “a unique sense of camaraderie and shared experiences among the players.”

D&D could promote the development of executive functions

While I don’t have any research to back this up, based on my own observations of kids playing Dungeons & Dragons, the game does require some executive function skills. With complex rules and character traits, players must use their working memory, strategically plan ahead, and at the same time concentrate on what is happening. Meanwhile, the rules and story provide structure that can support neurodiverse players in both their use of executive functions and social skills.

Dungeons & Dragons is now for the cool kids

Those who grew up in the decades after Dungeons & Dragons was released in the 1970s remember the game as an object of ridicule. In fact, many parents in the 1980s would not allow their children to play it due to unfounded rumors that the game was a demonic form of Satan worship.

More recently, Stranger things showed us the innocent reality of play: a cute way for kids to create stories to play out for each other. Somehow, this face-to-face social interaction seemed decidedly charming in our own times, when children spend most of their time playing with screens rather than with each other.

D&D has only become more popular and widely played over the past decade. The game generated one of the biggest box office hits of 2023 in film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Encourage social connections, start a D&D game

For those experiencing loneliness, D&D can provide the social connection they need. In-person games are hosted in local game stores, and virtual games (which are still very social compared to video games) are hosted by many professional DMs. For parents concerned about their children’s social lives moving largely online, encouraging a neighborhood D&D game could be just what this doctor ordered.