Appendix A.

Aggressive and Assertive Codes

Code	Definition	Example
Aggression
Demanding Behavior	Making demands or asking strongly for something.	“Tell her to back off“ “Give me back my newspaper!” (P)
Spiteful Behavior	Acting out of spite, passive aggression, making passive-aggressive or sarcastic comments.	“Get him expelled” “Say ‘Gee, I'm glad you had a nice day’” (P)
Verbal Aggression	Yelling, name calling, verbal threats, revenge or retaliation.	“I'd get a baseball bat and warn them that I'll hit them” “I'd match his criticism” (P)
Physical Aggression	Physically hostile infringements on the person or possessions; hitting, grabbing.	“Bump him” (C)
Assertion
Assertive Cooperative	Higher order solutions, which meet the subject's needs, but also consider the other's feelings and needsa. Compromising – taking the other person into account when solving the problem.	“Ask if we can take turns reading the magazine.” (C)
Assertive Prosocial	Addressing problem in a good-natured, kind or nice manner or making a polite request with prosocial words such as “please” or “thank-you” or providing an explanation or rationale for behavior.	“I would explain that the magazine was mine and I did not mean to leave it...could I please have it back?” (C)
Assertive Direct	Confronting person or issue, information seeking. Being direct, getting to the point through the use of statements or questions.	“I would ask for my magazine back.” (C)

Note. C indicates example from the child's data; P example from the parents’ data

^aDefinition from the AST.