Background: Exposure to abuse or neglect during childhood may be associated with an increased risk of psychological, social, and behavioral impairment. Aim of study: investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment on self-esteem among adolescence. Subjects and Method: Research design: An analytic cross-sectional research design. Study setting: The study was conducted in two randomly selected secondary schools at Zagazig city. Study subjects: 187 male and female Students' .Tools of data collections:Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire with a maltreatment questionnaire and Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Results: Adolescents with age range 16 to 19 years, with almost equal gender distribution. In total, 39.0% of adolescents had no exposure to maltreatment, while 11.2% had high exposure and 71.7% had normal level of self-esteem. Maltreatment scores had positive correlations with adolescent's age, number of male siblings, family size, and crowding index, and a negative correlation with family income. In multivariate analysis, maltreatment scores were negative predictors of self-esteem scores. Conclusion: Exposure to maltreatment is a significant negative predictor of self-esteem among adolescents. Recommendations: The study recommends more active school nurses' role in training adolescents, teachers, and counseling parents to improve their parenting strategies. Outreach programs to increase awareness about child maltreatment and their negative sequels on child development. School curricula should include educational sessions in life skills.