A Multilevel Analysis of the Importance of School Climate for the Trajectories of Students’ Self-concept and Self-esteem Throughout the Middle School Transition
Abstract
Understanding which environmental factors influence the trajectory of self-concept and self-esteem during middle school transition may help schools better support students during this period. This short longitudinal study examined the influence of students' perceptions of school climate upon the trajectory of students' self-concept and self-esteem during middle school transition. Students in 25 classes from four schools (N = 404; M age = 9.40, SD = 0.67) completed self-report measures of self-concept and self-esteem at four time points: twice before (fourth grade) and twice after middle school transition (fifth grade). The results showed that students with more positive perceptions of school climate in the beginning of fifth grade displayed more positive trajectories in self-concept and self-esteem. Students from larger fourth grade classes had more positive trajectories of social self-concept compared to those from smaller classes. The findings highlight the importance of school climate in the development of self-concept and self-esteem during middle school transition.
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Some studies but not others reported that the decline in self-esteem during the middle school transition did not persist beyond the first year after the transition.
“Some studies (Wigfield et al., 1991) but not others (Coelho et al., 2020) reported that the decline did not persist beyond the first year after the transition.”
From Self‐esteem development and life events: A review and integrative process framework (2022) · cites this paper as Coelho et al., 2020
Self-esteem decreases during the middle school transition are accompanied by simultaneous decreases in indicators of acceptance and competence.
“Studies reporting self-esteem decreases during the middle school transition reported simultaneous decreases in indicators of acceptance and competence (Coelho et al., 2020;Wigfield et al., 1991).”
From Self‐esteem development and life events: A review and integrative process framework (2022) · cites this paper as Coelho et al., 2020
Cites
Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling with IBM SPSS
Heck, R. H. (2013) · doi:10.4324/9780203701249 · Cited by 774 · see citing works
School Life and Adolescents' Self-Esteem Trajectories
Morin, A. J. S., Maïano, C., Marsh, H. W., Nagengast, B., & Janosz, M. (2013) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12089 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
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Self‐esteem development and life events: A review and integrative process framework
Reitz, A. K. (2022) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12709 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
“, 1991), Portugal (Coelho et al., 2020), and Germany (Arens et al.”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Coelho, V. A., Bear, G. G., & Brás, P.
- Affiliations
- Fundação Minerva - Cultura - Ensino e Investigação Científica (PT)
- University of Delaware (US)
- Corresponding author
- Coelho, Vítor Alexandre
- Venue
- Journal of Youth and Adolescence
- Published
- 2020-04-30
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1793-1804
- ISSN
- 0047-2891 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-6601
- OpenAlex
- W3023704285
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 15.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Youth and Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychosocial Factors Impacting Youth
- Keywords
- school climate, self-concept, self-esteem, middle school transition, developmental trajectories, social self-concept, class size, elementary school students, student perceptions
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Schools, Self Concept, Students, Multilevel Analysis
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