British Journal of Clinical Psychology (1999), 38, 387±400 Printed in Great Britain # 1999 The British Psychological Society 387 The development and validation of the Visual Analogue Self-Esteem Scale (VASES) 1 Shelagh M. Brum®tt* Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of She¬eld, UK Paschal Sheeran Department of Psychology, University of She¬eld, UK 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 5 14 and N 5 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. The nature of self-esteem Self-esteem is one of the most ubiquitous constructs in psychology and in everyday life. According to the Collins College Thesaurus (1995), to `esteem ’ something is ` to admire, be fond of, cherish, honour, like, love, prize, regard highly, [or] respect’ it (p. 210). Thus, in ordinary language self-esteem refers to the extent to which one approves of and likes oneself. Self-esteem is synonymous with constructs such as `self-worth’, `self-regard’ and `self-acceptance ’, which have the concept of `esteem ’ at their core. In psychology, self-esteem is a hypothetical construct that is quanti®ed by `the overall aåective evaluation of one’s own worth, value or importance’ (Blascovich & * Requests for reprints should be addressed to Shelagh M. Brum®tt, Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of She¬eld, 18}20 Claremont Crescent, She¬eld S10 2TA, UK (e-mail : s.m.brum®tt!she¬eld.ac.uk). " The VASES will be published by Winslow Press in 1999. Queries about the instrument should be addressed to the publisher: Winslow Press, Telford Road, Bicester, Oxon, OX6 0TS.