Military children from birth to five years.

Because most research on military families has focused on children who are old enough to go to school, we know the least about the youngest and perhaps most vulnerable children in these families. Some of what we do know, however, is worrisome--for example, multiple deployments, which many families have experienced during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, may increase the risk that young children will be maltreated. Where the research on young military children is thin, Joy Osofsky and Lieutenant Colonel Molinda Chartrand extrapolate from theories and research in other contexts--especially attachment theory and research on families who have experienced disasters.

Effect of parents' wartime deployment on the behavior of young children in military families.

Objective: To describe the effect of wartime military deployments on the behavior of young children in military families.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Childcare centers on a large Marine base.