Borderline intellectual functioning in children and adolescents: reexamining an underrecognized yet prevalent clinical comorbidity.

Borderline Intellectual Functioning, a diagnostic category in psychiatry, has received little attention to date. This condition, present in up to 7% of the population, may result in significant functional limitations, especially in stressful or novel circumstances, and may coexist with or be eclipsed by other mental disorders. Adequate recognition is essential both for strengthening dysfunctional cognitive processes and for enhancing social competence, as well as for facilitating overall adaptive development, especially in the juvenile population.