Social Competence in Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Delayed Development of Theory of Mind Across All Complexity Levels.
Borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) is characterized by heterogeneous cognitive difficulties, with an intelligence quotient (IQ) between 70 and 85 points, and a failure to meet the developmental and sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility required in daily life. The fact that this population still remain a marginal clinical category, with noad hocdiagnostic and therapeutic approaches, has stimulated the present research. Our goal was to study children with BIF investigating the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) as a pillar of social competence. Children with BIF (N= 28, 16 male/12 female, and mean age 9.46 ± 1.26 years) and children with typical development (TD;N= 31, 17 male/14 female; mean age 8.94 years ± 0.99) underwent a neurocognitive assessment and a ToM assessment. Children with BIF showed a significant lower performance across all the levels of ToM development investigated compared to the control group, and a correlation between executive functions and the advanced levels of ToM reasoning. These results constitute a first step in the direction of defining the clinical profile of children with BIF concerning ToM development, opening the way to future interventions in order to support the developmental evolution of this population in an adaptive direction.
IRCCS, Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Onlus Milan, Italy.
Gisella
G
Baglio
IRCCS, Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Onlus Milan, Italy.
Valeria
V
Blasi
Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, Italy.
Francesca
F
Sangiuliano Intra
Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro CuoreMilan, Italy; Department of Human and Social Sciences, Università degli Studi di BergamoBergamo, Italy.
Ilaria
I
Castelli
Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, Italy.
Davide
D
Massaro
IRCCS, Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Onlus Milan, Italy.
Francesca
F
Baglio
Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, Italy.
Annalisa
A
Valle
IRCCS, Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Onlus Milan, Italy.
Michela
M
Zanette
Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, Italy.
Antonella
A
Marchetti
Theory of Mind; borderline intellectual functioning; executive functions; false belief; social competence