Introduction: Self-esteem is important for the development of adolescent’s psychological well-being. The Rosenberg
Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) is the most commonly used instrument for measuring self-esteem. However, the Malay-language version of the RSES (RSES-M) has not been validated among upper secondary school students in Malaysia.
Methods: We administered the RSES-M to 3349 students who participated in the Malaysia Adolescent Health Risk
Behavior (MyAHRB) study. The construct validity of the RSES-M was assessed using exploratory factor analysis while
internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach alpha. Results: The study identified two factors in the RSES-M.
The variance for the first and second factor was 30.32% and 19.91%, respectively, Item 7 (I wish I could have
more respect to myself) which showed a positive correlation with the positive wording contrasted with the original
RSES. Such contrary may be due to social and cultural background difference. Conclusion: The translated version
of RSES-M can be considered as a valid tool to measure self-esteem in upper school going adolescents in Malaysia.
However, future studies to determine the psychometric properties of item 7 in the Malaysian setting are strongly
recommended to enhance the validity of RSES-M.