Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.

<h4>Objective</h4>For leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grappling with diverse tasks and stressors, personality functioning can play a key role on stress perception and building and managing professional relationships. We investigated the relationship between SME leade...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rebecca Erschens, Carla Schröpel, Sophia H Adam, Harald Gündel, Peter Angerer, Ulrike Dinger-Ehrenthal, Johannes C Ehrenthal, Mathias Diebig, Sophie Hofmann, Michael Gast, Susan Gritzka, Stephan Zipfel, Florian Junne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312675
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841533106431983616
author Rebecca Erschens
Carla Schröpel
Sophia H Adam
Harald Gündel
Peter Angerer
Ulrike Dinger-Ehrenthal
Johannes C Ehrenthal
Mathias Diebig
Sophie Hofmann
Michael Gast
Susan Gritzka
Stephan Zipfel
Florian Junne
author_facet Rebecca Erschens
Carla Schröpel
Sophia H Adam
Harald Gündel
Peter Angerer
Ulrike Dinger-Ehrenthal
Johannes C Ehrenthal
Mathias Diebig
Sophie Hofmann
Michael Gast
Susan Gritzka
Stephan Zipfel
Florian Junne
author_sort Rebecca Erschens
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objective</h4>For leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grappling with diverse tasks and stressors, personality functioning can play a key role on stress perception and building and managing professional relationships. We investigated the relationship between SME leaders' personality functioning on the dimensions of self-perception and self-regulation on perceived stress reactivity (PSR), and symptoms of anxiety and depression.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross-sectional sub analysis of a multi-centre RCT project was performed. A sample of N = 174 SME leaders from various sectors in southern Germany were examined on their self-rated levels of personality functioning (OPD-SQ), involving self-perception (facets: self-reflection, affect differentiation, sense of identity) and self-reflection (facets: impulse control, affect tolerance, regulation of self-esteem), with higher scores indicating lower levels of personality functioning. The outcome variables were perceived stress reactivity (PSRS) and symptoms of depression and anxiety (HADS).<h4>Results</h4>The mean score for symptoms of anxiety was M = 6.13 (SD = 3.34), depression M = 4.40 (SD = 3.35), and for PSRS M = 21.39 (SD = 8.04). The mean sum score for self-perception was M = 7.71 (SD = 7.19) and for self-regulation M = 10.50 (SD = 7.09). The results of three regression models showed that higher scores for affect differentiation (rsp = .13), impulse control (rsp = .14) and regulation of self-esteem (rsp = .29) were associated with higher scores for PSR. Higher scores for affect differentiation (rsp = .17) and affect tolerance (rsp = .20) were significantly associated with higher scores for anxiety. A higher score for regulation of self-esteem (rsp = .17) was associated with higher depression scores.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This study highlights the association between core dimensions of SME leaders' personality functioning and mental distress. The findings can be applied on interventions and health promotion and the establishment of high-quality professional relationships and leadership skills.
format Article
id doaj-art-9a39e8bffcbe459dae566df419ca8ffa
institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-9a39e8bffcbe459dae566df419ca8ffa2025-01-17T05:32:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011911e031267510.1371/journal.pone.0312675Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.Rebecca ErschensCarla SchröpelSophia H AdamHarald GündelPeter AngererUlrike Dinger-EhrenthalJohannes C EhrenthalMathias DiebigSophie HofmannMichael GastSusan GritzkaStephan ZipfelFlorian Junne<h4>Objective</h4>For leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grappling with diverse tasks and stressors, personality functioning can play a key role on stress perception and building and managing professional relationships. We investigated the relationship between SME leaders' personality functioning on the dimensions of self-perception and self-regulation on perceived stress reactivity (PSR), and symptoms of anxiety and depression.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross-sectional sub analysis of a multi-centre RCT project was performed. A sample of N = 174 SME leaders from various sectors in southern Germany were examined on their self-rated levels of personality functioning (OPD-SQ), involving self-perception (facets: self-reflection, affect differentiation, sense of identity) and self-reflection (facets: impulse control, affect tolerance, regulation of self-esteem), with higher scores indicating lower levels of personality functioning. The outcome variables were perceived stress reactivity (PSRS) and symptoms of depression and anxiety (HADS).<h4>Results</h4>The mean score for symptoms of anxiety was M = 6.13 (SD = 3.34), depression M = 4.40 (SD = 3.35), and for PSRS M = 21.39 (SD = 8.04). The mean sum score for self-perception was M = 7.71 (SD = 7.19) and for self-regulation M = 10.50 (SD = 7.09). The results of three regression models showed that higher scores for affect differentiation (rsp = .13), impulse control (rsp = .14) and regulation of self-esteem (rsp = .29) were associated with higher scores for PSR. Higher scores for affect differentiation (rsp = .17) and affect tolerance (rsp = .20) were significantly associated with higher scores for anxiety. A higher score for regulation of self-esteem (rsp = .17) was associated with higher depression scores.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This study highlights the association between core dimensions of SME leaders' personality functioning and mental distress. The findings can be applied on interventions and health promotion and the establishment of high-quality professional relationships and leadership skills.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312675
spellingShingle Rebecca Erschens
Carla Schröpel
Sophia H Adam
Harald Gündel
Peter Angerer
Ulrike Dinger-Ehrenthal
Johannes C Ehrenthal
Mathias Diebig
Sophie Hofmann
Michael Gast
Susan Gritzka
Stephan Zipfel
Florian Junne
Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.
PLoS ONE
title Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.
title_full Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.
title_fullStr Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.
title_full_unstemmed Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.
title_short Personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small- and medium sized enterprises.
title_sort personality functioning and mental distress in leaders of small and medium sized enterprises
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312675
work_keys_str_mv AT rebeccaerschens personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT carlaschropel personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT sophiahadam personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT haraldgundel personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT peterangerer personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT ulrikedingerehrenthal personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT johannescehrenthal personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT mathiasdiebig personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT sophiehofmann personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT michaelgast personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT susangritzka personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT stephanzipfel personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises
AT florianjunne personalityfunctioningandmentaldistressinleadersofsmallandmediumsizedenterprises