This study of the meaning of good and bad sleep explicates priority-related situational contexts for understanding differences in issues with sleep continuity, opportunity, and prioritizing sleep in this group of participants. The idea of good sleep being related to sleep continuity was also found in the Deerstalker et al 11 study.Furthermore, in the current study, participants described the deleterious effects of poor sleep on the person's ability to function (mentally and emotionally) and be productive during the day.Participants all described life stresses as central to a bad night'ssleep. For participants, poor sleep lead to lost productivity and increased potential for injuryParticipants' life situational contexts, such as emphasis on work
demands and social life (family focused workers and socializers), informed
the valuing of a good night's sleep that minimized obtaining
sleep opportunities and subsequent sleep management practices,
similar to Coveney.13 Some sleep management practices included
use of caffeine to stay awake and alcohol to de-stress. In addition,
for family-focused workers, the dynamic interactions among the family
members influence sleep opportunities. Likewise, Meltzer et al21
emphasized that the importance of sleep is best understood from
the family context. Life stresses interfered with the ability to fall
asleep as theirmind racedwith thoughts at bedtime and the children
often interrupted their sleep. Future research could further examine
family, social, and environmental contexts on sleep practices among
a broader age range and ask more questions about life situations or
developmental tasks such as in young families. The optimum health
seekers prioritized and valued sleep, and they took advantage of
sleep opportunities, and used their knowledge of sleep hygiene to attempt
to improve sleep and manage stress. This perspective was
more cognizant of the influence sleep health. The optimum health
seekers prioritized sleep in their lives no matter what age.