Increasingly people in prison are sharing cells but little is known about how cell-sharing may influence wellbeing. This research explores this issue using a random stratified survey of 569 imprisoned adult men in Northern Ireland. The findings reveal a relationship between cell-sharing and wellbeing but indicate that cellmate relationships may be more important than cell type in influencing wellbeing. Depending on the nature of cellmate relationships, the findings suggest that cell-sharing can enhance or diminish wellbeing beyond that experienced in single cells. In explaining these findings, it is proposed that cellmate relationships may influence the extent to which individuals feel strain from concealing their emotions and vulnerabilities, receive social support from a cellmate and/or feel safe.

监狱中的人们越来越多地共享牢房，但对牢房共享如何影响幸福感却知之甚少。这项研究通过对北爱尔兰569名被囚禁成年男子的随机分层调查来探讨这一问题。这些发现揭示了细胞共享与健康之间的关系，但表明在影响健康方面，细胞伴侣的关系可能比细胞类型更为重要。根据细胞伴侣关系的性质，研究结果表明，与单细胞相比，细胞共享可以增强或减少健康。在解释这些发现时，提出了细胞伴侣的关系可能会影响个人因隐瞒自己的情感和脆弱性而感到紧张，受到细胞伴侣的社会支持和/或感到安全的程度。