The concept and measurement of fathers' stimulating play: a review.

Reviews of attachment research point to fathers' capacity to provide for a secure child-parent attachment relationship; a suggested mechanism for the development of this relationship may be sensitive and challenging play interactions. This review synthesises research on fathers' challenging and stimulating play by mapping the variation in construct definitions and reporting on the association of fathers' stimulating play with child outcomes. Using search terms such as "father", "stimulating"and "challenging", 26 studies were identified, including 16 longitudinal studies, which assessed the association between father-child stimulating or challenging play, and child outcomes.