Research into doll therapy stresses the need for further
empirical research, but concludes that while there
is a lack of evidence in support, none suggest it is
inherently harmful. Alander et al (2013) used a
grounded theory approach with 11 participants, 8 of
whom had dementia, and 4 were actively using dolls.
Although this study has a small sample size, it draws
a number of interesting points concluding that the
intra- and interpersonal benefits of doll therapy outweigh
the practical and ethical concerns.