Assessment of Intellectual Profile of Pupils with Borderline Intellectual Functioning in Anambra State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62672/telad.v3i2.65Keywords:
Borderline intellectual functioning, Educational psychology, Intellectual disability, Typical development, WISC-IV profile, Working memoryAbstract
Little is currently known about borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) in Nigeria, a condition characterized by an intelligence quotient between one and two standard deviations below the average that affects more than 14% of the population. Aims: The present study aimed to analyze the intellectual profile of school-aged pupils with BIF. Method and Procedure: The research employed the 'gold standard' in psychological assessments designed to measure differing intellectual capacities in pupils (WISC-IV) by administering to 204 pupils with BIF attending 20 sampled lower and upper primary schools in Onitsha Educational Zone, and their profile was compared with that of a control group of typically developing (TD) pupils. The results show that the WISC-IV profile of the pupils with BIF differed from that of the TD pupils, and the former’s performance was worse than the latter’s in all the measures considered. The pupils with BIF also showed significant differences between the four main factor indices, scoring lowest for working memory. At the same time, the TD control group’s profile was flat (as expected on the grounds of standardization criteria). No differences were found between the profiles of pupils with and without a comorbid neurodevelopmental disorder. The study findings support the hypothesis that individuals with BIF have a characteristic profile with specific weaknesses. Following the study's findings, this research recommends that the government should embark on modalities that will enhance environmental adjustments for developing children, treatment of comorbid conditions, and early interventions.References
Alloway, W. (2018). Cognitive profiles of genetic syndromes with intellectual disability. Life Span & Disability, 12(1), 29–40.
American Psychiatric Association. (2024). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Bonifacci, N., & Snowling, G. (2018). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Third Edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Cheramie, U., Stafford, I., & Mire, O. (2020). The WISC–III in context. In A. Prifitera & D. H. Saklofske (Eds.), WISC–III clinical use and interpretation: Scientist-practitioner perspectives (pp. 1–38). New York, NY: Academic Press.
De Clercq-Quaegebeur, H., Jaguda, F., & Saturday, I. (2021). Borderline intellectual functioning: Consensus and good practice guidelines. Revista de Psiquiatrìa y Salud Mental, 6(3), 109–120.
Di Nuovo, L., & Buono, U. (2021). Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: Does intelligence make a difference? Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 53(1), 3–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2008.01105.x
Emerson, T., Friday, I. O., & ThankGod, K. (2018). Borderline intellectual functioning and the intellectual disability construct. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 47, 386–389.
Fernell, M., & Ek, R. (2020). Interpreting intelligence test results for children with disabilities: Is global intelligence relevant? Applied Neuropsychology, 14(1), 2–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09084280701280338
Ferrari, E. I. (2019). Speed of processing and reading disability: A cross-linguistic investigation of dyslexia and borderline intellectual functioning. Cognition, 107(3), 999–1017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.12.006
Fiorello, F., Hale, H., Holdnack, J., Kavanagh, I., Terrell, O., & Long, K. (2021). Borderline intellectual functioning: A systematic literature review. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 52(6), 419–443.
Giofrè, T., Toffalini, J., Altoè, K., & Cornoldi, R. (2021). What is intelligence? Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Hassiotis, A., Jones, U. I., & Gabriel, I. O. (2018). Psychiatric morbidity and social functioning among adults with borderline intelligence living in private households. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 52(2), 95–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2007.01001.x
Henry, H. (2021). Cognitive profile for children with ADHD by using WISC-IV: Subtype differences? Revista de Psicodidáctica, 20(1). http://www.ehu.eus/ojs/index.php/psicodidactica/article/view/12531/11928
Jankowska, E. I. (2016). Intelligence measures as diagnostic tools for children with specific learning disabilities. Intelligence, 61, 140–145.
Jarrold, C., Baddeley, A., & Hewes, A. (2021). Influence of gender on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in EuropeADORE. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 15(Suppl. 1), I15–I24.
Karande, G., Kanchan, U., & Kulkarni, I. (2018). Neuropsychological profile on the WISC-IV of French children with dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43, 563–574. doi:10.1177/0022219410375000
Kortteinen, U., Närhi, J., & Ahonen, P. (2022). Borderline intellectual functioning in children and adolescents: Insufficiently recognized difficulties. Acta Paediatrica, 99(5), 748–753. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2010.01707.x
Mäehler, F., & Schuchardt, E. (2021). WISC-IV technical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Association.
Mäehler, S. D., & Schuchardt, H. (2021). The prevalence of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Neurotherapeutics, 9(3), 490–499. doi:10.1007/s13311-012-0135-8
Masi, T., Marcheschi, Y., & Pfanner, I. (2021). How does the severity of a learning disability affect working memory performance? Memory, 9(4), 233–247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658210042000085
Ninivaggi, R. I. (2023). Working memory and executive function profiles of individuals with borderline intellectual functioning. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 54, 448–456. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01281.x
Paterson, S. D., & David, Y. (2018). Identifying classes of persons with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning: A latent class analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 17, 257. doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1426-8
Peltopuro, U., Ahonen, T., Kaartinen, I., Seppala, U., & Närhi, I. (2019). The cognitive and academic profiles of reading and mathematics learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45(1), 79–95.
Prifitera, A., Weiss, L., & Saklofske, D. H. (2018). Understanding the cognition related to mathematics difficulties: A meta-analysis on the cognitive deficit profiles and the bottleneck theory. Review of Educational Research, 88(3), 434–476.
Raiford, M., Gaius, J., & Jose, R. (2019). WISC-IV intellectual profiles in Italian children with specific learning disorders and related impairments in reading, written expression, and mathematics. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49, 320–335. doi:10.1177/0022219414555416
Raiford, T., Weiss, O., Rolfhus, J., & Coalson, O. (2020). Language and number in Down syndrome: The complex developmental trajectory from infancy to adulthood. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 7(2), 79–86.
Raven, E., Raven, D., & Court, J. (2018). Clinical and psychoeducational profile of children with borderline intellectual functioning. Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 75(8), 795–800. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12098-008-0101-y
Schuchardt, L., Gates, U., & David, I. (2022). Bisogni educativi speciali: Il funzionamento intellettivo limite o borderline. Tipologia, analisi di casi e indicazioni operative. Parma: Ed. Junior.
Schuchardt, N., Gebhart, I., & Maehler, O. (2019). The mental health of young children with intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45(5), 579–587.
Sternberg, T., & Detterman, B. (2019). Genetically dissociated components of working memory: Evidence from Down's and Williams syndrome. Neuropsychologia, 37(6), 637–651.
Toffalini, E., Giofrè, H., & Cornoldi, I. (2019). Working memory functions in children with different degrees of intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 54(4), 346–353.
Toffalini, Y. O., & Bufalo, I. (2022). Strengths and weaknesses in the intellectual profile of different subtypes of specific learning disorder: A study on 1,049 diagnosed children. Clinical Psychological Science, 5(2), 402–409. doi:10.1177/2167702616672038
Vianello, H., & Marin, R. (2022). Does IQ matter in adolescents’ reading disability? Learning and Individual Differences, 19(2), 257–261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.01.003
Vianello, R. Y., Di Nuovo, E. I., & Lanfranchi, U. O. (2024). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Weiss, H., & Gabel, I. (2021). Raven manual: Section 1 (General overview), Section 2 (Coloured Progressive Matrices) and Section 6 (The Crichton Vocabulary Scale). Oxford, UK: Oxford Psychologists Press.
Wieland, T., & Zitman, H. (2021). WISC-IV GAI and CPI in psychoeducational assessment. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 26(3), 209–219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0829573511419090
World Health Organization. (2023). International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (10th rev.). Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ijeoma M Obibuba, Muoghalu A. E. O
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
