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Developing causal model of occupational stress for English language teachers based on ambiguity tolerance and difficulty in emotion regulation: The mediating role of marital conflict

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Abstract

Occupational stress is an important risk factor for teachers’ mental health. The aim of this study was to develop a causal model of occupational stress in English language teachers based on ambiguity tolerance and difficulty in emotion regulation mediated by marital conflict. The research method was descriptive and structural. The population consisted of all English language teachers who were teaching in the academic year 2019–2020. 220 participants were selected by simple random sampling. Data collection instrument included Philip Al Rice’s Job Stress Questionnaire, McLain’s Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire, Gratz and Roemer’s Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Sanayi’s Marital Conflict Questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling and SPSS 23 and LISREL 8.8 software programs. According to the results, the causal model of the relationship between ambiguity tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation, marital conflict and occupational stress of English language teachers was confirmed based on different fit indicators. Ambiguity tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation, and marital conflict have a direct effect on the occupational stress in English language teachers; also, ambiguity tolerance and difficulty in emotion regulation through marital conflict have an indirect effect on the occupational stress in English language teachers (p < 0.05). Therefore, ambiguity tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation, and marital conflict play such an important role in occupational stress in English language teachers that targeting these three components through psychological therapies can be effective in reducing the occupational stress in English language teachers.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this article give special thanks to the English language teachers in Ardebil for their cooperation in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

    Naser Yousefi & Sanaz Eyni

  2. University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

    Rasool Moradi-Joz

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  1. Naser Yousefi
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Correspondence to Rasool Moradi-Joz.

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The authors do not have any conflict of interest with any real persons or legal entities. The study was granted exemption from requiring ethics approval, for the participants, English language teachers in Ardebil, have duly acknowledged the publication of their specifications in any form.

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Yousefi, N., Moradi-Joz, R. & Eyni, S. Developing causal model of occupational stress for English language teachers based on ambiguity tolerance and difficulty in emotion regulation: The mediating role of marital conflict. Curr Psychol 42, 29189–29197 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03991-2

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