A study published in Games for Health Journal Vol 13, No 2 titled A Study on the Efficacy of the Tabletop Roleplaying Game Dungeons & Dragons for Improving Mental Health and Self-Concepts in a Community Sample by Alyssay Merrick, Wendy Wen Li, and Dan J. Miller shows mental health benefits of tabletop roleplaying games.
Twenty-five participants played Dungeons & Dragons for one hour per week for eight weeks with surveys before, during, and after the game sessions. All participants played the same module run by a local games club in Queensland, Australia, and were balanced across prior experience with D&D with 16% having no experience, 32% moderate experience, and 20% a “great deal” of experience.
According to the study, “Participants demonstrated significant decreases in depression, stress, and anxiety and significant increases in self-esteem and self-efficacy over the study period”. The paper states that the results indicate D&D and other RPGs “may have potential utility as a wellbeing intervention or prevention program”.
A free version of the paper published by the authors is available in PDF format