مطالب

Objective: The present study aimed to model marital satisfaction and parental problem-solving on children's mental health with the mediating role of parental emotional support. Methods: The research method was descriptive-correlational and of the structural equation modeling type. The study population included all adolescent girls aged 15 to 18 years along with their parents residing in Tehran in 2024, from whom 258 adolescents and their parents were selected as the sample through convenience sampling. Data collection instruments included the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (EMSS, ENRICH, 1987) and the Problem-Solving Styles Questionnaire (PSS, Cassidy & Long, 1996) for parents, and the Emotional Atmosphere Questionnaire (FEA, Hilburn, 1964) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ, Goldberg, 1979) for adolescents. Parents responded to the Marital Satisfaction and Problem-Solving Styles Questionnaires, while adolescents responded to the Emotional Atmosphere and Mental Health Questionnaires. Findings: The results showed that the proposed model had a good fit. Findings also indicated that the direct path of marital satisfaction, parental problem-solving, and parental emotional support to children's mental health was significant (P < 0.05), and the indirect path of marital satisfaction and parental problem-solving to children's mental health through parental emotional support was also significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that marital satisfaction and parental problem-solving can affect children's mental health through parental emotional support.

Objective: This study aimed to explore how humor functions as a coping mechanism that contributes to marital satisfaction among couples in Slovenia. Methods and Materials: A qualitative design was employed, relying on semi-structured interviews to capture couples’ lived experiences of humor in marriage. Twenty-four participants (12 couples) from Slovenia, married for at least three years, were recruited using purposive sampling. Interviews were conducted until theoretical saturation was achieved, with each session lasting between 60 and 90 minutes. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically using NVivo 14 software. Trustworthiness was enhanced through peer debriefing, member checking, and triangulation with field notes. Findings: Four major themes emerged from the data: (1) Humor as an Emotional Buffer, where couples described humor as a strategy for stress relief, emotional recovery, and conflict de-escalation; (2) Humor and Intimacy, highlighting the role of shared jokes, playful teasing, and affectionate humor in strengthening closeness and trust; (3) Humor as a Communication Strategy, with participants explaining how humor allowed them to soften criticism, indirectly express sensitive issues, and repair conflicts; and (4) Humor and Marital Resilience, where humor facilitated coping with external stressors, fostered perspective-taking, and sustained hope during challenges such as illness or financial strain. Couples reported that affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles were most beneficial, while aggressive humor could undermine satisfaction. Humor was also noted as increasingly expressed through digital interactions, including memes and messaging. Conclusion: The findings suggest that humor is a multidimensional coping resource in marriage, functioning simultaneously as an emotional, relational, communicative, and resilience-enhancing tool. While humor generally promotes marital satisfaction, its effects depend on style and context. These insights highlight the importance of constructive humor in maintaining healthy, satisfying, and enduring marital relationships.

Although researchers have used practical procedures for developing professional teacher education, such as reflective practice and action research, the role of learning-oriented assessment (LOA) in building an active learner-centered pre-service teacher education has received scarce scholarly attention. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore how collective and reflective LOA can enhance EFL pre-service teachers’ learner-centered teacher education. For this purpose, 15 Iranian EFL pre-service teachers were selected through a convenience sampling procedure from a teacher-training college in Iran. The study was built on a qualitative intrinsic case study, the data were collected from the participants through observations, self- and peer-assessment practices, portfolios, and semi-structured interviews, and the collected data were inductively analyzed. The results of the inductive thematic analysis indicated that pre-service teachers became active, cooperative, and flexible. Firstly, pre-service teachers concentrated on reflective self-assessment, collaborative peer-assessment, and portfolios. Secondly, pre-service teachers were more self-directed and autonomous by taking more actions, planning their development, making decisions, and learning. Thirdly, pre-service teachers accelerated their positive emotions, such as growth mindset, flexibility, curiosity, and criticality. The findings promise implications for implementing learning–oriented assessment to promote teachers’ agency and autonomy in their teaching careers.