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Do preadolescent sport self-concepts influence subsequent sport performance? Longitudinal data (Grades 3, 4, and 6) for young boys and girls (N= 1,135; mean age = 9.67) were used to test reciprocal effects model (REM) predictions that sport self-concept is both a cause and a consequence of sport accomplishments. Controlling prior sport performance (performance-based measures and teacher assessments), prior sport self-concept had positive effects on subsequent sport performance in both Grade 4 and Grade 6 and for both boys and girls. Coupled with previous REM studies of adolescents in the academic domain, this first test for preadolescents in the sport domain supports the generalizability of REM predictions over gender, self-concept domain, preadolescent ages, and the transition from primary to secondary school.

Apart from committing to a morbidity-oriented risk structure compensation, the restructuring of the hospital funding system in Germany in favour of a performance-oriented reimbursement system has been the most important decision of the current legislative period. Many side effects of introducing the DRG system will indirectly lead to improving the outcome quality of hospital treatment in Germany. Suffice it to mention here the trend towards specialisation and internal process optimisation. The quality assurance measures that have been introduced by the DRG law (Fallpauschalengesetz) apparently indicate that future German legislature's decisions will be geared towards more transparency and consumer-orientation, which might even increase in the next few years.