General and Domain-Specific Self-Esteem Among Regular Education and Special Education Students T D. C 1 University of Missouri–Kansas City N G University of California, Los Angeles J VO  P F Madison East High School We examined the global and domain-specific self-esteem of students who are emo- tionally disturbed, students who are learning disabled, and students who are in regular education classrooms. Students who were emotionally disturbed or learning disabled had lower global self-esteem than did students in regular education classes. The specific domains in which students in special education felt that they were less competent than students in regular education included social skills, leadership skills, and academics. However, the 2 groups of students in special education did not differ from one another. No differences emerged between the groups on a measure of self-esteem that is less subject to social desirability concerns. Implications of this research for education are discussed. Do the specific types of special education labels placed on students influ- ence children’s self-esteem? Do students who are set aside from their peers and placed in special classrooms suffer from decrements in self-esteem, rela- tive to students who are in regular education classrooms? In this research, we explore the various facets of self-esteem among students with learning dis- abilities and students with emotional disturbance in comparison to students in regular education classes. We also determine the association between self-esteem and behavioral outcomes among these students. Self-Esteem Components In most studies of students’ self-esteem, a global self-esteem measure is employed. That is, researchers assess how participants feel about themselves generally, in an overall sense. For example, a common measure that has been 1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Terri Conley, Department of Psychology, University of Missouri–Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64110. E-mail: terriconley@ umkc.edu 775 Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2007, 37, 4, pp. 775–789. © 2007 Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing, Inc.