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A Multilevel Analysis of the Importance of School Climate for the Trajectories of Students’ Self-concept and Self-esteem Throughout the Middle School Transition

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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; Mage = 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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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ana Maria Romão, Marta Marchante and Vanda Sousa for collecting and organizing the data.

Authors’ Contributions

V.A.C. conceived the study and its design, drafted the paper, and performed the statistical analysis; G.B. participated in the conception of the study and its design, drafted the paper, participated in the interpretation of the data and its implications; P.B. drafted the paper, and participated in the interpretation of the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

Project Positive Attitude is funded by Municipalities of Torres Vedras and Cadaval.

Data Sharing and Declaration

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Académico de Torres Vedras, Travessa do Quebra-Costas, 9, 2560-703, Torres Vedras, Portugal

    Vítor Alexandre Coelho & Patrícia Brás

  2. Psychology for Positive Development Research Center, Universidade Lusíada Norte, Rua Lopo de Carvalho, 67, 4369-006, Porto, Portugal

    Vítor Alexandre Coelho

  3. School of Education, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    George G. Bear

Authors
  1. Vítor Alexandre Coelho
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  2. George G. Bear
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vítor Alexandre Coelho.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The current study was approved by the Psychology for Positive Development Research Center. The present study was conducted following the national professional code of ethics for psychologists (OPP), following national legislation.

Informed Consent

All school directors agreed to the implementation of the programs and schools sent consent forms to parents one month before the first assessment. Consent forms were sent and received via the regular school channels.

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 8

Table 8 Self-concept—descriptive statistics for control and intervention group, pre-and post-transition, by gender
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Coelho, V.A., Bear, G.G. & Brás, P. A Multilevel Analysis of the Importance of School Climate for the Trajectories of Students’ Self-concept and Self-esteem Throughout the Middle School Transition. J Youth Adolescence 49, 1793–1804 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01245-7

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