The DSM0IV-TR defines this disorder as a pervasive pattern of negativistic attitudes and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance in social and occupational situations that begins by early adulthood and occurs in a variety of contexts. The name of the disorder is based on the assumption that such people are passively expressing covert aggression. Passive-aggressive disorder has been included in all editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and although no statistics exist that speak to its prevalence, the syndrome appears to bi relatively common.