Negative Interactions Research Articles

Clinical validation of the ineffective social support network nursing diagnosis in violence-victimized women.

To verify clinical validity evidence for the ineffective social support network nursing diagnosis. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed with 98 violence-victimized women treated in two reference centers for violence in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The women were interviewed from August 2021 to June 2022. The clinical indicators that best predicted the nursing diagnosis were as follows: Frustration with unmet support expectations, negative social interaction, perceived neglect of support demands, feeling of abandonment, low reciprocity, and encouragement of negative behaviors. Etiological factors that showed greater association were excessive demand for support, limited social network, social isolation, the fragility of institutional service networked organizations, and inadequate appreciation of available social support. The clinical validity evidence for the ineffective social support network nursing diagnosis has been verified. Thus, the validated clinical indicators and etiological factors can accurately diagnose and predict the emergence of this phenomenon in violence-victimized women. The results contribute to advancing scientific knowledge in nursing teaching, research, and practice and support the nursing process in violence-victimized women.

Exploring high intertidal refugia as an approach for the restoration of an intertidal oyster

Marine organisms frequently inhabit intertidal zones that serve as refuges from predation and competition but are not optimal physiologically. Restoration practitioners working with intertidal species may similarly have to consider whether restoration success will be greater where conditions are more benign (usually lower in the intertidal) or where negative biotic interactions are reduced (usually higher in the intertidal). In cases where a target species has greater desiccation tolerance than its enemies, restoration may be more successful higher in the intertidal zone, despite potential performance trade-offs. In many US West Coast estuaries, non-native drill species can decimate native oyster populations, posing a challenge to restoration. Given that native Olympia oysters Ostrea lurida should be better able to withstand tidal emersion than the non-native Atlantic oyster drill Urosalpinx cinerea, we explored using the high intertidal as a refuge from predation as a potential restoration technique. Using surveys and a field experiment, we investigated the recruitment, growth, and survival of oysters as well as drill abundance and predation over 3 tidal elevations. Oysters recruited and survived equally well at +0.1, +0.5, and +0.8 m mean lower low water, but juvenile oyster growth decreased with increasing elevation. In our experiment, predation on oysters was lower at the highest elevation than at low and mid elevations, but in natural populations there was a near complete absence of O. lurida at any elevation where U. cinerea was present. This suggests that a higher tidal elevation refuge is not a viable approach for oyster restoration in our study area.

Quality of human-animal interactions during beef cattle auctions in Panama

This study aimed to determine the quality of human-animal interactions during cattle auctions in Panama and to assess the relationship between cattle reactivity, value paid, and time spent on commercialization. Data were recorded by watching video records of 4531 individual cattle sold in the main Panamanian auctions. Cattle reactivity was assessed by one previously trained observer when the animals entered the box where they were exposed for sale, assigning one of three scores: 1 = calm, 2 = reactive, and 3 = very reactive. Human-animal interactions were assessed using a binary score to assess the occurrence of hitting (1) or not (0) during commercialization. When cattle were hit to stimulate movement, their reactivity was assessed again to determine whether hitting altered their behavior. The value paid (USD/kg of live weight), and the time spent on commercialization (s) of each animal were also recorded in a subsample of 704 animals. Cattle reactivity, genetic group, animal category, auction location and phase of commercialization influenced the occurrence of hits (p<0.05). Hitting altered cattle reactivity (p<0.001); 95 % of the animals scored calm when they entered the auction box, dropped to 85 % after being hit. There was a significant effect of the reactivity score (p<0.05), genetic group (p=0.01), location (p<0.001) and auction phase (p=0.002) on the number of hits received by the cattle when inside the auction box. The median value paid for very reactive cattle tended to be higher than for calm cattle (1.85 vs 1.82 USD/kg; respectively; p=0.06). There were no differences in the time spent on commercialization according to cattle reactivity (p>0.05). In conclusion, cattle reactivity, and auction phase, in addition to other factors such as genetic group, animal category, and auction location, affected the frequency of negative human-animal interactions during commercialization. Cattle reactivity tended to affect the price paid per head of cattle but not the time spent in marketing.

Analysis of composition and molecular characterization of mycobiota occurring on surface of cheese ripened in Dossena's mine

Accurate identification of the fungal community spontaneously colonizing food products, aged in natural and not controlled environments, provides information about potential mycotoxin risk associated with its consumption.Autochthonous mycobiota colonizing cheese aging in Dossena mines, was investigated and characterized by two approaches: microbial isolations and metabarcoding. Microbial isolations and metabarcoding analysis were conducted on cheese samples, obtained by four batches, produced in four different seasons of the year, aged for 90 and 180 days, by five dairy farms. The two approaches, with different taxonomical resolution power, highlighted Penicillium biforme among filamentous fungi, collected from 58 out of 68 cheeses, and Debaryomyces hansenii among yeasts, as the most abundant species (31 ÷ 65%), none representing a health risk for human cheese consumption. Shannon index showed that the richness of mycobiota increases after 180 days of maturation. Beta diversity analysis highlighted significant differences in composition of mycobiota of cheese produced by different dairy farms and aged for different durations. Weak negative growth interaction between P. biforme and Aspergillus westerdijkiae by in vitro analysis was observed leading to hypothesize that a reciprocal control is possible, also affected by natural environmental conditions, possibly disadvantageous for the last species.

Lid Margin Microbiome in Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Patients With Lid Margin Keratinization and Severe Dry Eye Disease.

The current study evaluated the lid margin microbiome of keratinized lid margins of patients with chronic Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and compared it with healthy controls and historically reported lid margin microbiome of patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Eyelid margin swabs of 20 asymptomatic adults (mean age = 29 ± 12years) and 10 patients with chronic SJS (mean age = 31.2 ± 14years) with lid margin keratinization were sequenced using next generation of 16S rDNA V3 to V4 variable region. Within SJS, the keratinized lid margin microbiome was compared with adjacent eyelid skin. All patients had obstructive MGD, and mean Schirmer I value was 2.8 ± 1.9 mm. The phyla were similar in two groups, whereas at the genera level, an increase in the relative abundance of Corynebacterium, Haemophilus, Azotobacter, and Afipia and a decrease of Acinetobacter was noted in SJS compared to healthy lid margins. SJS-associated microbiota displayed lesser diversity and more heterogeneity than healthy controls. The Principal Components Analysis (PCA) plot revealed wide separation in the SJS and the control groups. Correlational network analysis revealed Corynebacterium and Sphingomonas forming a major hub of negative interactions with other bacterial genera in the SJS group. Significant differences exist in the prevalent genera between keratinized lid margins and historically reported meibum microbiome of patients with MGD. In addition, the eyelid skin of patients with SJS had predominant Staphylococcus, whereas Corynebacterium and Pseudomonas were more in the keratinized lid margins compared to the eyelid skin microbiome. Lid margin microbiome is significantly altered in the keratinized lid margins of patients with SJS compared to the eyelid skin of patients with SJS, normal lid margins, and patients with MGD.

Plant interactions can lead to emergent relationships between plant community diversity, productivity and vulnerability to invasion

Understanding what makes a community vulnerable to invasion is integral to the successful management of invasive species. Our understanding of how characteristics of resident plant interactions, such as the network architecture of interactions, can affect the invasibility of plant communities is limited. Using a simulation model, we tested how successfully a new plant invader established in communities with different network architectures of species interactions. We also investigated whether species interaction networks lead to relationships between invasibility and other community properties also affected by species interaction networks, such as diversity, species dominance, compositional stability and the productivity of the resident community. We found that higher invasibility strongly related with a lower productivity of the resident community. Plant interaction networks influenced diversity and invasibility in ways that led to complex but clear relationships between the two. Heterospecific interactions that increased diversity tended to decrease invasibility. Negative conspecific interactions always increased diversity and invasibility, but increased invasibility more when they increased diversity less. This study provides new theoretical insights into the effects of plant interaction networks on community invasibility and relationships between diversity and invasibility. Combined with increasing empirical evidence, these insights could have useful implications for the management of invasive plant species.

Optimizing Landslide Susceptibility Model Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Approach in Sawla-Laska Road Corridor and Surroundings, Southwest Ethiopia

Natural disasters such as landslides have potential to jeopardize human life and seriously harm ecosystems. Ethiopia is among the countries most susceptible to landslides because of its mountainous terrain, strong and sustained rainfall, and dense development near steep hillsides. This study aimed to produce a landslide susceptibility map for the Sawla-Laska road corridor and its surroundings in Ethiopia using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model. The QGIS model builder module was used to intersect 195 landslide polygons and 12 thematic raster pixels for the topographic, hydrological, proximity, geological, and environmental elements. The Generalized Weight (GW) results revealed strong correlations between proximity variables, slope, plane curvature, humicalisols, agricultural areas, settlements, scant vegetation, and barren terrain. In contrast, other factors exhibited negative and neutral interactions. The Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve showed acceptable results. The accuracy of the model ranges from 88% to 94%. Data were assorted into low, medium, and highly vulnerable zones representing 183.85 (75%), 14.55 (6%), and 47.6 (19.34%). The model performances demonstrate that the model can accurately predict the current situation in the future. Therefore, adequate land-use planning and environmental protection should be implemented based on the findings of this study and landslide susceptibility map.

Negative intraguild interactions drive niche variation in arthropod predators

Negative intraguild interactions drive niche variation in arthropod predators

Conservation is in the eye of the beholder: Taking a sensory approach to animal management and conservation in Australia

ABSTRACT Animals possess a range of sensory systems that are shaped by phylogeny and adapted to their unique life history. The field of sensory ecology studies how animals use these sensory capabilities to acquire and process salient information that enhances survival. Navigation, prey capture, predator avoidance, and communication are behaviours that rely on sensory inputs and are critical to understanding how an animal interacts with the physical environment and the other organisms that share its habitat. Because sensory biology is so critical to the behaviour of an animal, a detailed understanding of a species' sensory capabilities may also reveal novel and potentially more effective ways of manipulating its behaviour for management or conservation purposes. Here we highlight several instances where the application of a sensory ecology approach has been used to tackle challenging conservation problems, with a view to encouraging such an approach in Australian ecosystems. We describe how it is possible to exploit animal sensory systems to control invasive species using sensory traps and reduce negative interactions between humans and animals. We emphasise the importance of understanding and mitigating anthropogenic stressors from the perspective of the animals affected, in both wild animals affected by urban development and captive animals. It is evident that a sensory ecology approach has much to offer in terms of improving animal welfare and the conservation of biodiversity, including through the development of novel technological solutions that augment the current conservation management toolbox.

Collaboration or competition? Interactions between floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind in Norway

Fixed-bottom offshore wind is exploited as a maturing technology in many European countries. Floating wind has impressive potential for deep waters but needs technological and market development. How these two partially related technologies interact remains unclear. We address the ambiguity of these interactions to investigate floating offshore wind's development. The interactions are divided into technological or market and can be negative (competition and resistance) or positive (collaboration and diversification). We analyze these interaction types through a case study of offshore wind in Norway. Many positive interactions were observed, including knowledge overlaps and infrastructure compatibilities. Negative interactions include competition about future space constraints at ports, labor availability, and resistance by incumbent wind turbine manufacturers. Further, market and technological interactions are mutually influential, creating important feedback loops. Technologies can no longer be simply categorized as ‘niche’ or ‘regime’, but rather ‘niche-like’ (emerging) and ‘regime-like’ (maturing); hence, both emerging-emerging and emerging-maturing interactions occur.

Assessing the mediating role of disenfranchising talk on the well-being of female patients with chronic overlapping pain conditions

ObjectiveDisenfranchising talk (DT) occurs when health care providers discredit, silence, and stereotype patients. Although ample research has suggested associations among negative patient-provider interactions and poorer well-being, this study is the first to investigate the mediating role of patient-provider DT in exacerbating poorer pain-related health correlates. MethodsFemale patients living with chronic overlapping pain conditions (N = 348) completed a cross-sectional survey including measures of DT, pain severity, pain catastrophizing, and pain disability, as well as demographic information. Structural equation modeling in AMOS 29 assessed whether DT mediated the relationship between age, educational attainment, and sexual orientation (demographics), and pain severity, catastrophizing, and disability (pain-related health correlates). ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed that DT mediated the relationship between age, educational attainment, and sexual orientation on pain-related health correlates, such that younger and LGBQA+ patients and those with less educational attainment reported heightened pain severity, catastrophizing, and disability when they also reported DT. ConclusionIn contrast to scholarship assessing how demographics and pain-related variables influence patient-provider communication, this study instead investigated the mediating role of DT in pain-related health correlates. Practice implicationsProviders should avoid discrediting, silencing, or stereotyping female chronic pain patients’ pain to potentially avoid exacerbating pain-related health correlates.

How Shared Dietary Behaviors Within Asian American Families Are Influenced by Emotional Interaction Qualities: A Nationwide Cross-sectional Analysis.

Asian American (AA) young adults face a looming diet-related non-communicable disease crisis. Interactions with family members are pivotal in the lives of AA young adults and form the basis of family-based interventions; however, little is known on the role of these interactions in shared family food behaviors. Through an analysis of 2021 nationwide survey data of 18-35-year-old AAs, this study examines how the quality of family member interactions associates with changes in shared food purchasing, preparation, and consumption. Interaction quality was assessed through 41 emotions experienced while interacting with family, and was categorized as positive (e.g., "I look forward to it"), negative (e.g., "I feel annoyed"), and appreciation-related (e.g., "I feel respected") interactions. Participants were also asked how frequently they ate meals, ate out, grocery shopped, and cooked with their family. Among the 535 AAs surveyed (47.6% East Asian, 21.4% South Asian, 22.6% Southeast Asian), 842 unique family interactions were analyzed; 43.5% of interactions were with mothers, followed by siblings (27.1%), and fathers (18.5%). Participants most frequently ate meals with their family (at least daily for 33.5% of participants), followed by cooking (at least daily for 11.3%). In adjusted analyses, an increase in shared food behaviors was particularly associated with positive interactions, although most strongly with cooking together and least strongly with eating meals together; significant differences between ethnic subgroups were not observed. Findings revealed the importance of family interaction quality when leveraging family relationships to develop more tailored, impactful AA young adult dietary interventions.

Do exotic invasive mammals disturb the native fauna? Spatiotemporal distribution and overlap between species in a national park of Argentina.

Monitoring the invasive exotic species and their effect on native fauna is fundamental for their effective control. The objective of this research is to evaluate the spatiotemporal distribution and overlap of medium-large-sized fauna in El Palmar National Park, Argentina, to consider potential negative interactions between native and exotic species. Camera traps were distributed in 27 sites between 2017 and 2019. Spatial and temporal overlap was estimated for every pair of exotic-native taxa. With 2673 camera days, two exotic and seven native taxa were recorded. All species were distributed along the extension of the National Park but in different numbers of sites. Exotic axis deer (Axis axis) was recorded in all sites but one, and exotic wild boar (Sus scrofa) occurred at only one-third of the sites surveyed. The occurrence of native mammals ranged between 26% (Geoffroy's cat, Leopardus geoffroyi) and 67% (capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Spatial overlap between native and exotic species was high overall and was higher in winter when species moved over larger areas to look for limited resources. Except for greater rhea (Rhea americana), which was diurnal, all species had crepuscular or nocturnal patterns. Both exotic species had an intermediate/high overlap in their activity pattern with almost all native species, including some species with similar diets, but the hours of their maximum activities did not strictly coincide. However, the existence of differences in the exotic species' activity patterns compared to their patterns in other areas where they inhabit could indicate segregation in daily activity to relax competition.

Spiking networks that efficiently process dynamic sensory features explain receptor information mixing in somatosensory cortex.

How do biological neural systems efficiently encode, transform and propagate information between the sensory periphery and the sensory cortex about sensory features evolving at different time scales? Are these computations efficient in normative information processing terms? While previous work has suggested that biologically plausible models of of such neural information processing may be implemented efficiently within a single processing layer, how such computations extend across several processing layers is less clear. Here, we model propagation of multiple time-varying sensory features across a sensory pathway, by extending the theory of efficient coding with spikes to efficient encoding, transformation and transmission of sensory signals. These computations are optimally realized by a multilayer spiking network with feedforward networks of spiking neurons (receptor layer) and recurrent excitatory-inhibitory networks of generalized leaky integrate-and-fire neurons (recurrent layers). Our model efficiently realizes a broad class of feature transformations, including positive and negative interaction across features, through specific and biologically plausible structures of feedforward connectivity. We find that mixing of sensory features in the activity of single neurons is beneficial because it lowers the metabolic cost at the network level. We apply the model to the somatosensory pathway by constraining it with parameters measured empirically and include in its last node, analogous to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), two types of inhibitory neurons: parvalbumin-positive neurons realizing lateral inhibition, and somatostatin-positive neurons realizing winner-take-all inhibition. By implementing a negative interaction across stimulus features, this model captures several intriguing empirical observations from the somatosensory system of the mouse, including a decrease of sustained responses from subcortical networks to S1, a non-linear effect of the knock-out of receptor neuron types on the activity in S1, and amplification of weak signals from sensory neurons across the pathway.

A dog-eat-dog world: predation and resource acquisition by free-ranging dogs around Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India

Free ranging-dogs are being recognized as a potential threat for native wildlife around the globe. They interact with native wildlife at multiple levels, ranging from predation, competition, acting as a reservoir for diseases and hybridization with the native carnivores. We have recorded cases that focus on interactions of dogs with wildlife in and around Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR). Between 2017–2020, we collected data on free-ranging dogs interacting with native wildlife of RTR. We classified the interactions into two categories: resource acquisition and predation. Based on our results we propose that dogs in rural settings around wildlife reserves can cause more resource competition for the existing carnivore scavenging guild resulting in reduced biomass consumption for the native scavengers. When present in large numbers, they can have a negative interaction with native wildlife through predation and harassment. To understand how dogs can pose threats to the native wildlife, there is a need for an extensive study on the ecology of dogs around wildlife reserves, pertaining to their feeding ecology and their raging behaviour.

Managing Microbiota Activity of Apis mellifera with Probiotic (Bactocell®) and Antimicrobial (Fumidil B®) Treatments: Effects on Spring Colony Strength.

Against a backdrop of declining bee colony health, this study aims to gain a better understanding of the impact of an antimicrobial (Fumidil B®, Can-Vet Animal Health Supplies Ltd., Guelph, ON, Canada) and a probiotic (Bactocell®, Lallemand Inc., Montreal, QC, Canada) on bees' microbiota and the health of their colonies after wintering. Therefore, colonies were orally exposed to these products and their combination before wintering in an environmental room. The results show that the probiotic significantly improved the strength of the colonies in spring by increasing the total number of bees and the number of capped brood cells. This improvement translated into a more resilient structure of the gut microbiota, highlighted by a more connected network of interactions between bacteria. Contrastingly, the antimicrobial treatment led to a breakdown in this network and a significant increase in negative interactions, both being hallmarks of microbiota dysbiosis. Although this treatment did not translate into a measurable colony strength reduction, it may impact the health of individual bees. The combination of these products restored the microbiota close to control, but with mixed results for colony performance. More tests will be needed to validate these results, but the probiotic Bactocell® could be administrated as a food supplement before wintering to improve colony recovery in spring.

Factors limiting the potential range expansion of lodgepole pine in Interior Alaska.

Understanding the factors influencing species range limits is increasingly crucial in anticipating migrations due to human-caused climate change. In the boreal biome, ongoing climate change and the associated increases in the rate, size, and severity of disturbances may alter the distributions of boreal tree species. Notably, Interior Alaska lacks native pine, a biogeographical anomaly that carries implications for ecosystem structure and function. The current range of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) in the adjacent Yukon Territory may expand into Interior Alaska, particularly with human assistance. Evaluating the potential for pine expansion in Alaska requires testing constraints on range limits such as dispersal limitations, environmental tolerance limits, and positive or negative biotic interactions. In this study, we used field experiments with pine seeds and transplanted seedlings, complemented by model simulations, to assess the abiotic and biotic factors influencing lodgepole pine seedling establishment and growth after fire in Interior Alaska. We found that pine could successfully recruit, survive, grow, and reproduce across our broadly distributed network of experimental sites. Our results show that both mammalian herbivory and competition from native tree species are unlikely to constrain pine growth and that environmental conditions commonly found in Interior Alaska fall well within the tolerance limits for pine. If dispersal constraints are released, lodgepole pine could have a geographically expansive range in Alaska, and once established, its growth is sufficient to support pine-dominated stands. Given the impacts of lodgepole pine on ecosystem processes such as increases in timber production, carbon sequestration, landscape flammability, and reduced forage quality, natural or human-assisted migration of this species is likely to substantially alter responses of Alaskan forest ecosystems to climate change.

Inverse interaction of shear between steel-stirrups and externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymers in shear-strengthened reinforced concrete beams: Analytical and numerical models

Shear failure in reinforced concrete (RC) beams have always been a serious concern due to its brittle fracture mode. In addition, many questions are raised about the accuracy of current design guidelines for predicting the shear resistance contribution of externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (EB-CFRPs) to the ultimate shear strength of strengthened RC beams, particularly with regard to the inverse interaction of the shear contribution between steel-stirrups and EB-CFRPs. The main objective of the present study is to implement experimental and numerical tests to develop analytical and numerical models for RC beams strengthened in shear using EB-CFRPs. Emphasis is placed on the negative inverse interaction between the steel-stirrups and the EB-CFRPs as the ratio of EB-CFRP-to-steel-stirrups increases with increasing the CFRP rigidity (CFRP thickness and CFRP width). The inverse interaction is not included in the design models proposed by most current guidelines, although it has a considerable effect on shear resistance as predicted by the guidelines. In fact, the shear contribution associated with EB-CFRP decreases as the ratio of EB-CFRP-to-steel-stirrups increases. Therefore, proposing reliable effective strains by including these parameters improve the calculated shear contribution of EB-CFRPs. First, an analytical model is proposed for CFRP effective strain considering the inverse interaction between EB-CFRPs and steel-stirrups. Afterward, a validation of the proposed model with experimental data is done by conducting a parametric study of the increasing trends with respect to the ratio of EB-CFRP-to-steel-stirrups. A numerical finite-element model for the reduction factor and the corresponding effective strain based on the inverse interactions between EB-CFRPs and steel-stirrups is also proposed, and the results are compared with various current guidelines. The results are presented in terms of shear crack patterns, load-midspan deflections, shear stresses, strain responses along the fibers, maximum strain profiles for all the CFRPs and specimens, applied shear forces and strains for all the steel-stirrups and EB-CFRPs, and interactions between steel-stirrups and EB-CFRPs based on their maximum strain contributions at the maximum shear forces and the maximum strain they experience after shear failure.

Women’s Participation in Governance: A Quick Fix to Development Constraints in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The inhuman socioeconomic repercussions of corruption and bad governance inherent in successive male-dominated governments have generated agitation for increased women’s participation in governance. Primarily, this agitation is based on the premise that women are less inclined to corruption, which is a major impediment to good governance. Given the notoriety of these two impediments to development, this study aims to investigate the relationship between women’s participation in governance, corruption, and quality of governance in sub-Saharan Africa from 1996 to 2021. This study analyzed annual panel data of four sub-Saharan African countries using the autoregressive distributed lag model and the Granger causality test. Governance quality was proxied by government effectiveness, while women’s participation in governance and corruption were proxied by the number of women in government positions and control of corruption, respectively. Economic development and institutional quality were used as control variables. The findings revealed negative main and interaction effects of women’s participation in governance and corruption on governance quality, unidirectional causality from corruption to women’s participation in governance and from governance quality to women’s participation in governance, and bidirectional causality between corruption and governance quality. Quantitative increases in women’s participation in governance and corruption exacerbates governance quality. Women’s ability to participate in governance is determined by the prevalence of corruption in previous years. Anticorruption campaigns that focused on women’s participation in governance often result in reductions in corruption insufficient for improvement of governance quality. Corruption and bad governance are mutually reinforcing. Governance quality determines women’s participation in governance. To minimize corruption and bad governance, sub-Saharan African countries should shift their focus away from merely increasing the number of women in government positions to building strong institutions capable of creating a meritocratic political and socioeconomic environment in which selfless women and men have equal chances of being elected or appointed to public offices.

Does Higher Grade Indicate More Complex Language Usage? Exploring Syntactic Complexity Development Among High School EFL Learners

Purpose This article aims to investigate the longitudinal Syntactic Complexity (SC) development of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and the variations by grade level. Design/Approach/Methods This study conducts a longitudinal analysis of SC development among 199 high school EFL learners in eastern China. The corpus contains 920 argumentative essays on scientifically and socially contentious topics. We employ the Second Language Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (L2SCA) to examine syntactic features in these essays through 11 computerized indices measuring different dimensions of SC (i.e., coordination, subordination, phrasal complexity). Multi-level regression analyses are used to depict SC development and cross-level interactions are investigated to examine variations by grade. Findings Results suggest that all SC indices except T-units per sentence exhibit varying growing trends. The results align with Biber's hypothetical stages of syntactic development, indicating learners’ progression toward greater subordination and phrasal complexity. Negative cross-grade interactions suggest that lower-grade students show heightened improvements in phrasal sophistication over time. Originality/Value The study portrays the developmental patterns of SC within and across grade levels, highlighting both group trends and individual variability in language development. It conceptualizes SC as a multidimensional construct and informs more precise measurement of SC features in writing assessment and instruction.