Smirni Daniela, Smirni Pietro, Di Martino Giovanni, Operto Francesca Felicia, Carotenuto Marco
Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, Università degli Studi di Catania, Catania.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 2019 May;207(5):365-370. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000972.
According to DSM-5 and ICD-10, borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) should not be classified properly as a disorder. However, BIF people may present relevant problems of adaptive functioning in several areas of daily activities, and they seem to be more vulnerable to mental diseases. Young adolescence may be considered a particular period for emotional information processing. The "own and others' emotions" awareness can play a crucial role in many daily life situations, such as decision making, interpersonal relationships, and decoding of facial expressions. On this background, a BIF young adolescents group underwent a neuropsychological assessment including emotional and cognitive domains, and was compared with a healthy young adolescents control group (HC). In the overall sample, a significant negative correlation between general intellectual abilities and emotional awareness was found. The BIF group showed a significantly greater level of alexithymia and a poorer performance in higher cognitive tasks than HC group. As hypothesized, a border cognitive functioning influences mentalization processes as ability to discriminate and monitor emotions, as well as higher domains of cognition.
根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第五版（DSM - 5）和《国际疾病分类》第十版（ICD - 10），边缘智力功能（BIF）不应被恰当地归类为一种障碍。然而，边缘智力功能人群可能在日常活动的多个领域出现适应性功能的相关问题，并且他们似乎更容易患精神疾病。青少年早期可能被认为是情绪信息处理的一个特殊时期。“自身和他人情绪”意识在许多日常生活情境中，如决策、人际关系和面部表情解码中，都能发挥关键作用。在此背景下，一个边缘智力功能青少年组接受了包括情绪和认知领域的神经心理学评估，并与一个健康青少年对照组（HC）进行了比较。在整个样本中，发现一般智力能力与情绪意识之间存在显著的负相关。边缘智力功能组与健康对照组相比，显示出明显更高水平的述情障碍，并且在更高层次的认知任务中表现更差。正如所假设的，边缘认知功能会影响心理化过程，如辨别和监测情绪的能力以及更高层次的认知领域。
