The impact of the SPHERE project on the mother-baby dyad.

In recent years, the emotional development of infants has garnered increasing scientific interest. Parents influence it through their quality of attention and intention during parent-infant interactions. However, parenting is an intricate journey. Devoid of strict rules. And this complexity escalates when navigating neurodevelopmental disorders. Diagnoses of such disorders can elevate parental stress, prolong hospital stays, and augment the challenge of finding effective solutions. Additionally, the scarcity of affordable professional treatments is susceptible by disruptions in services, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to these multifaceted challenges, the SPHERE project was initiated. Neurodevelopmentally disabled infants often experience emotional, cognitive, and socio-interactive dysregulation, profoundly affecting caregiving. Early video-feedback interventions (VFIs) have proven effective in promoting sensitive parenting. However, the limited resources of healthcare systems hinder VFI delivery to families of these infants. Our study breaks new ground by implementing telemedicine Video-Feedback Interventions (TVFIs) tailored for families with an infant with a neurocognitive disorder. Data from 17 families participating in the SPHERE project's experimental arm reveals the potential of TVFIs to enhance parental skills and deepen parent-infant connections during play interactions. This research explores the telemedicine frontier's potential in delivering effective interventions to families while analyzing other values, such as anxiety, depression and parental stress, and how they can affect the interaction during play.