Our purpose was to examine indices of change and stability in self-esteem between late childhood and early adolescence. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was administered to 70 children at approximately age 9 and again at age 14. Analyses of the longitudinal data revealed significant (p < .05) increases in general measures of self-esteem as well as in specific subscales of the Self-Esteem Inventory. Significant test-retest correlation coefficients also attested to the relative stability of self-esteem measures across the five year age span. The findings contribute to the composite of recent longitudinal research indicating systematic increases in self-esteem throughout adolescence.
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