Exploring the mental health of veterans and its impact on entrepreneurial outcomes: a conceptual framework for future research

Purpose This research paper aims to examine the relationship between the mental health of army veteran entrepreneurs and the development of their ventures. The exploration of mental health conditions (Anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, Depression, Trauma, Stress) of army veteran entrepreneurs opens a new pathway in theory and practice to assess their impact on the development and sustainability of businesses. Design/methodology/approach The researchers applied an exploratory design and a scoping review to analyze an unexplored research theme and raise questions about veteran entrepreneurship and mental health. This exploratory design was well-suited for this study because of the limited and fragmented nature of the existing literature on army veteran entrepreneurship and mental health. In addition, the scoping review supported a systematic mapping of the available evidence across multiple data sources by identifying literature gaps and contributed to the development of a conceptual framework for future research. Findings The research on army veteran entrepreneurship and mental health is rather limited and underexplored at present. Throughout this study, the researchers conducted an extensive investigation of the relationship between army veterans’ mental health and the entrepreneurial outcomes of their ventures in terms of performance, sustainability and growth, while taking into consideration job demands, job resources, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions and subjective norms as mediating variables. Originality/value The proposed conceptual framework and the integration of the job demands resources model and the theory of planned behavior create the foundation for strong theoretical and practical innovations in the field of army veteran entrepreneurship.