Finally, for MOTWIN, it is important to note that it was not possible to specify with confidence whether one twin or both were subjected to maltreatment; nor could we ascertain the age at which maltreatment first occurred, since a) date of first available report is not the same as the time when maltreatment began; and b) some of the reports represented recurrences of unsubstantiated maltreatment that occurred beyond the 3-year purge cycle. We note that neglect overwhelmingly likely affects all children in a family; however the data available to us did not differentiate abuse versus neglect.
