In a study investigating the effects of an early entrance to college program on self-esteem, students in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS) completed the Adult Form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) the week they began and again after one semester of participation in the program, a time period when the greatest changes in self-esteem would be anticipated. Overall differences between TAMS pretests and posttests were nonsignificant or negligible, indicating that the students' self-esteem did not change in a meaningful way during their first semester in the program. A number of items on the SEI showed significant changes, all in a negative direction. On the pretest, TAMS students did not differ significantly from subjects in SEI normative groups on any items. On the posttest, however, there were some differences in a negative direction. Observed changes in self-esteem may be attributed to the adjustment that all college freshmen experience when they leave home for the first time, as well as to changes in social comparisons.
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