Tabletop Role-Playing Games as an Intervention for Social Anxiety: A Scoping Review
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) have been described as an adjunctive resource in mental health, but, to the authors’ knowledge, no review has treated social anxiety as its central focus. This scoping review will map the extent, nature, and diversity of the evidence on TTRPGs applied as an intervention for social anxiety, organized around intervention components, the therapeutic mechanisms declared by authors, and the outcomes reported. It will also describe populations and contexts, chart the instruments used to assess social anxiety, and identify methodological and reporting gaps. The review follows JBI methodology and the PCC framework, with reporting guided by PRISMA-ScR. Eligible sources are empirical primary studies of any design, including theses, dissertations, and preprints, that report a structured TTRPG intervention targeting social anxiety. Searches cover PubMed/MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, the CAPES Thesis and Dissertation Catalog, OATD, and PsyArXiv, with no language or date restrictions. Two independent reviewers will screen records and extract data, including intervention reporting with the TIDieR checklist. Analysis will be descriptive and narrative, with no meta-analysis and no critical appraisal of study quality. The expected output is a map of the literature, including an evidence gap map, with no claim of efficacy. It is intended to guide the design of future trials.
Source: OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223191034