Wizards & Warriors Summer Camp has teamed up with psychologist and superhero researcher Dr. Jania Scarlet to research if using adventures from the BBC TV program Doctor Who in role-playing games could help kids with depression, compassion, and socialization.
Kids ages 9 through 17 engaged in an interactive story with an actor playing The Doctor from the series to determine whether the influence of a superhero in play activities would provide psychological benefits to children. The initial study results show that children who acted out stories with the character gained an interest in social connectivity and compassion, as well as a reduction in depression.
Wizards & Warriors Summer Camp specializes in having campers portray an heroic version of themselves by navigating live adventures, where they fight off monsters with swords and solve mysteries. he specific lessons for the study included adventures to evoke empathy and compassion, non-judgmental acceptance, self-confidence, courage, and facing loss and death. The results found that all participants demonstrated significant improvements after Doctor Who camp training.
Overall, 96 percent of the participants reported that they enjoyed their summer camp experience and more than 81 percent stated that they were able to form new and meaningful social connections.
