Jenna Cox

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Major

Psychology

Advisor(s)

Jordan LaBouff

Committee Members

Jacquelyn Gill, Robby Finley

Graduation Year

May, 2025

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

The prevalence of depression among college students is higher than the general population (Ibrahaim et al., 2013). There are also increasing rates of anxiety and depression within the U.S population (Goodwin et al., 2020). Therefore, it is important to identify ways in which this problem can be combated. Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop role playing games contain elements that are known to be protective factors against depression and anxiety, such as developing social relationships (Green et al., 2002). We successfully surveyed 488 UMaine students about their experience with TTRPGs and their mental and social wellbeing. This presentation describes the results of that study, including a description of TTRPG play and reasons for play among UMaine students, predictors of engagement with TTRPGs, and the relationship between TTRPGs and overall mental and social wellbeing. We compared TTRPG players and non-players in terms of depression, social anxiety, social self-efficacy, and personality measures. Those who were familiar with TTRPGs were then asked for reasons why they play. We observed that some exposure to TTRPGs was common (42.9% of respondents had played at least once), that people played for many diverse reasons from practicing strategic thinking to strengthening friendships, and that TTRPG players tended to be more liberal, less religious, less conscientious and less agreeable than non-players. We did not observe differences between players and non-players on mental and social wellbeing. Implications and future directions will be discussed.

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