The development and validation of the Visual Analogue Self-Esteem Scale (VASES)

Objectives. To develop a visual analogue measure of self-esteem and test its psychometric properties. Design. Two correlational studies involving samples of university students and aphasic speakers. Method. Two hundred and forty-three university students completed multiple measures of self-esteem, depression and anxiety as well as measures of transitory mood and social desirability (Study 1). Two samples of aphasic speakers (N = 14 and N = 20) completed the Visual Analogue Self-Esteem Scale (VASES), the Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale and measures of depression and anxiety. (Study 2). Results. Study 1 found evidence of good internal and test-retest reliability, construct validity and convergent and discriminant validity for a 10-item VASES. Study 2 demonstrated good internal reliability among aphasic speakers. Conclusion. The VASES is a short and easy to administer measure of self-esteem that possesses good psychometric properties.