Nah, AQ is too nice a hand to fold 5-handed from any position, unless raised before you (i.e., BB if CO or Button raises you might fold). Its still a hand you'd like to see a flop with, but you'd prefer to see it as the aggressor.

"I seem to become passive as the table shrinks, and blinds creep up."

I have that problem sometimes too. Then I make it worse by getting frustrated at being so passive and feeling like the aggressors are pushing me around, so I get hyper-aggressive at the wrong time.

5-6 handed isnt my strong point. I tend to do really well by getting to the bubble with almost any amt of chips and then getting very aggressive there. Often everyone else turns into a passive nit waiting for someone else to bubble out, so you can run over them. I'll often double my chips between bubble and ITM. That being the case, if I had your chips in that hand, its not a bad course just to go super passive until bubble. As long as thats your "plan" then hopefully frustration wont hit, and you can go into the bubble with planned aggression rather than tilting aggression.