Physical Aggression in the Lives of Young Adults: Prevalence, Location, and Severity Among College and Community Samples

This study estimated the 1-year prevalence and location of observing and experiencing threat and aggression among two random samples of young adults. A community sample and a college sample completed a phone survey concerning how often they had observed physical aggression, experienced a verbal altercation, or were the target or the initiator of aggression. About 25% of women and 33% of men had experienced aggression in the preceding year. One of the primary locations was in or around a bar. For the most severe episode, the most common location was in or around a bar for men and in their own home for women. Experience with threats and aggression is common among young adults. Understanding criminal violence and people's fear of violence necessitates addressing this pandemic level of aggression in our society.