Assessment and Intervention Potentials of the Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF) Paradigm in Developmental Clinical Settings

The Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF) paradigm is a well-acknowledged procedure to assess socio-emotional regulation in healthy and at-risk infants. Although it was developed mainly for research purposes, the FFSF paradigm has potential clinical implications for the assessment of socio-emotional regulation of infants with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDs) and to suppor 1 parenting. The present chapter describes the application of the FFSF paradigm as an evaluation and intervention tool in clinical practice with infants with NDs and their parents. Theoretical and methodological insights for the use of the FFSF paradigm in the clinical setting are provided. Single-case vignettes from clinical practice further illustrate and provide exemplifications for the use of the FFSF with infants with ND and their parents. From a clinical point of view, the use of the FFSF paradigm (1) offers a unique observational perspective on socio-emotional regulation in infants with ND and to (2) enhances parents’ sensitivity to their infants’ behavior. The FFSF paradigm appears to be a useful tool for the clinical assessment of socio-emotional regulation in infants with ND and to promote the quality of parenting and early parent-infant interaction.