Thematic findings
There are two general themes that described the meaning and experiences of sleep for the healthy participants.
Theme One: Agreeing on the meaning of good and bad sleep The participants' everyday sleep experiences were embedded within the stories of their ordinary lives, which involved a variety of good and bad sleep. Interestingly, they often described their good night sleep as when bad sleep did not occur. When they slept well, they quickly entered a sleep state, had several hours of uninterrupted sleep, and did not wake up during the night, or if they awoke they fell back to sleep quickly. In the morning they woke up refreshed often not needing an alarm clock. The participants predominantly
discussed that a lack of interruptions from the environment or worry about their own life situations contributed to good sleep. Many of the participants stated that good sleep meant to sleep without interruptions, eg, “where I don't wake up continuously during the night.” “It's good when I'm not tossing and turning at night,” and “my child not waking up in the middle of the night coming into the bedroom.”