The new hierarchy of child maltreatment includes the categories of nonabused, protective issue (children at risk but not substantiated for abuse), and substantiated cases of abuse. This study explored the methodological issue of whether protective issue children should be classified as substantiated cases. Protective issue children were significantly younger than children with substantiated maltreatment and were more likely to be male. They had higher Total Competence scores and lower Total Behavior Problems scores. Given that protective issue children differ from children with substantiated maltreatment on age, gender, and behavioral indexes, researchers must be aware that placing the groups together may obscure effects. To aid in the comparability of studies, researchers should be explicit about the placement of protective issue children in their studies. Note, tables. references