Meta‐analytic associations between observed parental sensitivity and child behavioral problems were examined (children aged 0–17 years). Studies (k = 108, N = 28,114) contained sociodemographically diverse samples, primarily from North America and Europe, reporting on parent‐child dyads (95% mothers; 54% boys). Sensitivity significantly related to internalizing (k = 69 studies; N = 14,729; r = −.08, 95% CI [−.12, −.05]) and externalizing (k = 94; N = 25,418; r = −.14, 95% CI [−.17, −.11]) problems, with stronger associations found for externalizing. For internalizing problems, associations were significantly stronger among samples with low socioeconomic status (SES) versus mid‐high SES, in peer‐reviewed versus unpublished dissertations, and in studies using composite versus single scale sensitivity measures. No other moderators emerged as significant.

The increase in fathers' involvement in childrearing, particularly beyond infancy, warrants research exploring factors influencing the quality of child-father attachment relationships, and the impact of these relationships on children's social development. The current investigation explored various correlates of preschoolers' child-father attachment security to both parents, including contextual factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, child temperament, parenting stress), parental play sensitivity, and child social adaptation. Participants included 107 preschool-aged children (59 girls; M = 46.67 months, SD = 8.57) and their fathers and mothers. Results revealed that both mothers' and fathers' play sensitivity were associated with child attachment security after controlling for different contextual factors. Furthermore, the magnitude of the association between child conduct problems and child-father attachment insecurity was stronger than the corresponding association with child-mother attachment insecurity. Findings provide important information on caregiving factors associated with child-father attachment security in the preschool years and the importance of this bond to children's social adaptation.

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This meta‐analytic study examined the associations between child‐father attachment in early childhood and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Based on 15 samples (N = 1,304 dyads), the association between child‐father attachment insecurity and externalizing behaviors was significant and moderate in magnitude (r = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.27 or d = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.55). No moderators of this association were identified. Based on 12 samples (N = 1,073), the association between child‐father attachment insecurity and internalizing behaviors was also significant, albeit smaller in magnitude (r = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.15; or d = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.31). Between‐study heterogeneity was insufficient to consider moderators. When compared to the effect sizes of prior meta‐analyses on child‐mother attachment and behavior problems, the quality of the attachment relationship with fathers yields a similar magnitude of associations to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results support the need to consider the role of the attachment network, which notably includes attachment relationships to both fathers and mothers, to understand how attachment relationships contribute to child development.

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Growing evidence points to the theoretical and statistical advantages of continuous (rather than categorical) assessments of child-caregiver attachment (e.g., Feeney, 2016;Fraley & Spieker, 2003). In the preschool years, a continuous coding system adapted to preschool attachment was recently developed by Moss, Lecompte, and Bureau (2015), the Preschool Attachment Rating Scales (PARS). This system includes six continuous scales and is complementary to the categorical MacArthur Preschool Attachment Coding System (PACS; Cassidy, Marvin, & MacArthur Working Group on Attachment, 1992). The current study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the PARS to measure both child-mother and child-father attachment during the preschool period. Participants included 144 preschool-aged children (M=46.89 months, SD=8.77; 83 girls) and their parents. Results support the reliability and validity of the PARS: good inter-rater reliability, expected associations between scales, convergence with the PACS, and association with parental sensitivity and child externalizing problems. These findings support the application of continuous assessments of child-caregiver attachment in the preschool years. They also align with previous work on child-mother attachment, and present avenues for future research on child-father attachment.

Studies show that children with a military parent are at heightened risk of the development of behavior problems. However, there is limited work examining how other factors experienced by military families may also influence behavior problems. In the current study, we recruited three types of Canadian families with a preschooler: families with a deployed military member, families with a nondeployed military member, and nonmilitary families. We examined whether the nonmilitary parent's (in all cases the mother) parenting stress and attachment relationship with the child are associated with behavior problems, and whether deployment status further contributes to the prediction. Child-mother dyads participated in an observed attachment assessment, and mothers reported on their stress levels and their child's behavior. Results showed that both child attachment insecurity and parenting stress were associated with elevated levels of internalizing problems; however, only parenting stress was associated with conduct problems. Military deployment predicted higher levels of internalizing and conduct problems beyond the contributions of attachment and stress. Furthermore, having a father in the military (whether deployed or not) also contributed to internalizing problems. These findings shed light on how the military lifestyle impacts early childhood mental health through the complex interplay between various parts of their environment. K E Y W O R D S attachment, behavior problems, deployment, military, parenting stress 1 PREDICTION OF CHILD BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS Global conflicts such as the recent one in Afghanistan have contributed to an increase in the military deployment of Canadian Armed Forces personnel during the past few decades. Given the challenges that a long-term separation from a parent brings forward, scholars have been preoccupied with the potential detrimental effects of military deployment on children. Notably, they found that parental deployment may be a threat to early childhood mental health, notably by increasing the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing problems (Moeller, Culler, Hamilton, Aronson, & Perkins, 2015). However, past research neglected to consider whether deployment in itself predicts behavioral problems, or if other changes related to deployment (e.g., changes experienced by the at-home parent; Flittner O'Grady, Whiteman, Cardin, & MacDermid Wadsworth, 2018) may explain the higher prevalence of behavioral problems among children with a deployed parent. In the current study, we sought to address