“The Prevalence and Co-Occurrence of Psychiatric Conditions among Entrepreneurs and Their Families”, 2018-05-11 ():
Psychiatric conditions and sub-threshold psychiatric temperaments may influence entrepreneurs’ affect, cognition, energy, motivation, circadian rhythms, activity levels, self-concept, creativity, and interpersonal behaviors in ways that influence business outcomes.
We used a self-report survey to examine the prevalence and co-occurrence of 5 psychiatric conditions among 242 entrepreneurs and 93 comparison participants.
Mental health differences directly or indirectly affected 72% of the entrepreneurs in this sample, including those with a personal mental health history (49%) and family mental health history among the asymptomatic entrepreneurs (23%). Entrepreneurs reported experiencing more depression (30%), ADHD (29%), substance use (12%), and bipolar disorder (11%) than comparison participants. Furthermore, 32% of the entrepreneurs reported having two or more mental health conditions, while 18% reported having 3 or more mental health conditions. Asymptomatic entrepreneurs (having no mental health issues) with asymptomatic families constituted only 24% of the entrepreneur participants.
Entrepreneurs’ psychiatric issues can affect their functioning and that of their ventures. Therefore, integrating knowledge about psychiatric conditions with research on personality traits can broaden the understanding of how mental health-related traits, states, and family history can influence entrepreneurial outcomes. We discuss methodological limitations as well as implications of our findings for entrepreneurship research and practice.
…2.1.3 Risk propensity: Risk propensity is correlated with business foundation (2011). A meta-analysis of personality differences between entrepreneurs and managers reported in 12 large studies found that the risk propensity of entrepreneurs is greater than that of managers and that the largest differences are found among the entrepreneurs whose primary goal is business growth, rather than family income (2001). Similarly, a personality study of 500 top-level executives found that the most successful executives were the biggest risk takers (Mac1990).
Risk propensity and impulsivity are associated with ADHD (2013; Drechsler et al 200816ya; et al 2016), bipolar spectrum conditions (Alloy et al 201212ya; et al 2014; Strakowski et al 201014ya; Swann et al 200123ya), substance use disorders (2011; 2006; Kreek et al 200519ya; Lejuez et al 201014ya), and the co-occurrence of these conditions (Holmes et al 200915ya; Lee et al 201113ya; Moeller et al 200123ya; Upton et al 201113ya; 2000).