Dr. Sara LaBelle

Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Development

Communication Studies, School of Communication

Expertise: College Student-to-Student Communication; Teacher Authenticity; Communication in the Teaching-Learning Context; Prescription Stimulant Misuse

Office Location: Doti Hall 212

Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30 – 4:30 PM and by appointment

Email: labelle@chapman.edu

Education:: Canisius College, Bachelor of Arts
West Virginia University, Master of Arts
West Virginia University, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Sara LaBelle (Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2014) is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Development. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in message design, communication campaigns, instructional communication, and research methods. She also serves as the Director of the Graduate Student Instructor program and offers courses in Communication Pedagogy.

Dr. LaBelle's research is focused on the intersection of instructional and health communication. Specifically, she has published on the teaching-learning process as it applies to the college classroom, the impact of student-to-student communication on academic and health outcomes, and the implementation and evaluation of health communication campaigns. Dr. LaBelle has forwarded unique lines of research on the role of teacher’s authentic self in instruction, the impact of student-to-student confirmation on students’ learning, and the communication that occurs between faculty and students regarding mental health. She is the co-author of Strategic Communication for Organizations (University of California Press, 2020) and her work has been published in Communication Education, Personal Relationships, Western Journal of Communication, Communication Quarterly, Journal of Health Communication, and Substance Use & Misuse, among others.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications: Johnson, Z. D., & LaBelle, S. (2024). Student-to-student confirmation: A review and recommendations for research. Review of Communication, 24(3), 174-185. https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2024.2387540; LaBelle, S., Capra, J., Hellem, A., Kuchenbecker, C., Leonard, A., & Murphy, M. (2023). The contribution of instructional communication research to teaching-learning beyond the classroom. Communication Education, 72, 92-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2022.2137216; LaBelle, S., Johnson, Z. D., & Journeay, J. (2023). Teacher authenticity in the college classroom: Communicative and behavioral expressions of authentic instruction. Communication Education, 72, 61-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2022.2142624; Kuchenbecker, C., & LaBelle, S. (2023). Designing instructional crisis messages for college emergency notification systems: A test of the IDEA model. Communication Studies, 75, 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2023.2248688; Leonard Hodges, A., & LaBelle, S. (2023). Teaching God’s design: Exploring the rhetorical and relational goals of evangelical leaders during premarital education about sex. Communication Education, 73, 64-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2023.2275772; LaBelle, S., White, A., & Forman, E. R. (2023). Graduate students’ privacy boundaries in communicating about mental health with their advisors. Communication Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2023.2281325; Hellem, A., LaBelle, S., Matossian, C., & Karpecki, P. (2022). Interpersonal communication in eye care: An analysis of potential impacts on cataract surgery candidates’ expectations and behaviors. Clinical Ophthalmology, 16, 1003-1008. https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S356895; Capra, J., & LaBelle, S. (2022). A qualitative analysis of playing through pain and injury: Using the theory of planned behavior to understand the communicated sport ethic among former youth athletes. International Journal of Sport Communication, 15(3), 233- 241. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0051.; White, A., Ball., H., & LaBelle, S. (2022). Student intentions to engage instructors in mental health-related conversations: An application of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2060710; White, A., & LaBelle, S. (2022). Instructor-student communication about mental health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring differences in instructors’ professional and personal outcomes. Southern Communication Journal, 87(5), 432-447. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2022.2108890; Waldeck, J. H., Johnson, Z., & LaBelle, S. (2021). Confidence, clarity, and concern: Developing an effective teaching persona. Magna Publications: The best of the 2020 Teaching Professor Conference. https://www.magnapubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Best-of-TPC-2020.pdf.; LaBelle, S., & Johnson, Z. D. (2021). The relationship of student-to-student confirmation in the classroom to college students’ mental health and well-being. Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2021.1887310; LaBelle, S., & Wozniak, T. R. (2021). Academic beliefs and prescription stimulant misuse among college students: Investigating academic locus of control, grade orientation, and academic entitlement. Journal of American College Health. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2021.1968408; Johnson, Z. D., & LaBelle, S. (2022). College students’ intent to persist with their education: The direct and indirect effects of classroom confirmation and academic self-efficacy. Western Journal of Communication.; Johnson, Z. D., & LaBelle, S. (2020). Confirmation in the college classroom: The connections between teacher’s use of confirming messages and student’s own communicative behaviors. Communication Research Reports. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2020.1800449; LaBelle, S., & Johnson, Z. D. (2020). The relationship of student-to-student confirmation and student engagement. Communication Research Reports. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2020.1823826; LaBelle, S., Ball, H., Weber, K. D., White, A., & Hendry, A. (2020). The Rethink campaign to end prescription stimulant misuse on college campuses. Communication Quarterly, 68, 1-28. doi: 10.1080/01463373.2019.1668446; Kreps, G.L., Neuhauser, L., Sparks, L., & LaBelle, S. (2020). Promoting convergence between health literacy and health communication. In R.A. Logan & E.R. Siegel (Eds.), Health literacy in clinical practice and public health: New initiatives and lessons learned at the intersection with other disciplines. Amsterdam: IOS Press.; LaBelle, S., & Waldeck, J. H. (2020). Strategic communication for organizations. University of California Press.; LaBelle, S. (2020). The communicative roles of faculty in students’ mental health management. Spectra: The magazine of the National Communication Association. https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/publications/NCA_SpectraMay2020.pdf; LaBelle, S. (2020). Assessing student precarities in higher education: Our responsibility as teachers and scholars. Communication Education. doi: 10.1080/03634523.2020.1724311; LaBelle, S., & Ball, H. (2019). College student goals in the context of prescription stimulant misuse: An application of goals-plans-action theory. Communication Quarterly, 67, 76-99. doi:10.1080/01463373.2018.1533485; White, A., & LaBelle, S. (2019). A qualitative investigation of instructors’ perceived communicative roles in students’ mental health management. Communication Education, 68, 133-155. doi: 10.1080/03634523.2019.1571620; LaBelle, S., & Johnson, Z. D. (2018). Student-to-student confirmation in the college classroom: The development and validation of the student-to-student confirmation scale. Communication Education, 67, 185-205. doi: 10.1080/03634523.2018.1427879; Cranmer, G. A., & LaBelle, S. (2018). An application of the Disclosure Decision-Making Model to understand high school football players’ disclosures of concussion symptoms. International Journal of Sport Communication, 11, 241-260. doi: doi:10.1123/ijsc.2017-0120; LaBelle, S. (2018). Who Am I to Say Something?”: College students’ perceptions of peer interventions in the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication. doi: 10.1080/17459435.2017.1418415; LaBelle, S. (2017). College students’ intent to intervene when a peer is engaging in nonmedical use of prescription stimulants: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Substance Use & Misuse. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2017.1399421; LaBelle, S. (2017). Preparing to be a strategic communication professional: What can and should you be doing now to prepare for your professional career as a strategic communicator? In J. H. Waldeck, P. Kearney, & T. G. Plax, Strategic Communication at Work. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt. (Invited book chapter); Goldman, Z. W., Cranmer, G. A., Sollitto, M., LaBelle, S., & Lancaster, A. L. (2017). What do college students want? A prioritization of instructional behaviors and characteristics. Communication Education, 66, 280-298.; Johnson, Z. D., LaBelle, S., & Waldeck, J. H. (2017). A cautious approach to reliance on interpersonal communication frameworks: The importance of context in instructional communication research. Communication Education, 66, 115-117.; Johnson, Z. D., & LaBelle, S. (2017). An examination of teacher authenticity in the college classroom. Communication Education. doi:10.1080/03634523.2017.1324167; LaBelle, S. (2017). Publishing journal articles. In M. Allen (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (April 2017 ed.).; LaBelle, S. (2017). Communication journals. In M. Allen (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (April 2017 ed.).; LaBelle, S. (2017). Effective instructional practice: Facilitating constructive dissent. Available at natcom.org.; LaBelle, S., & Myers, S. A. (2016). The use of relational maintenance behaviors among sustained friendship types. Communication Research Reports, 33, 310-316.; Waldeck, J., & LaBelle, S. (2016). Theoretical and methodological approaches to instructional communication. In P. Witt (Ed.), Communication and Learning, pp. 67-101. Walter de Gruyter: Boston.; Johnson, Z. D., & LaBelle, S. (2016). Student-to-student confirmation in the college classroom: An initial investigation of the dimensions and outcomes of students’ confirming messages. Communication Education, 65, 44-63.; Johnson, Z. D., & LaBelle, S. (2015). Examining the role of self disclosure and connectedness in the process of instructional dissent: A test of the instructional beliefs model. Communication Education, 64, 154-170.; LaBelle, S., Odenweller, K. G., & Myers, S. A . (2015). Applying instructor communication behaviors and learning outcomes to the pediatrician-parent context. Southern Communication Journal, 80, 55-73.; Kennedy-Lightsey, C. D., Martin, M. M., LaBelle, S., & Weber, K. (2015). Attachment, identity gaps, and communication and relational outcomes in marital couples’ public performances. Journal of Family Communication, 15, 232-248.; Wanzer, M. B., Foster, S. C., Servoss, T, & LaBelle, S. (2014). Educating males about testicular cancer: Support for a comprehensive testicular cancer campaign. Journal of Health Communication, 19, 303-320.; Dillow, M. R., & LaBelle, S. (2014). Discussions of sexual health testing: Applying the theory of motivated information management. Personal Relationships, 21, 676- 691.; LaBelle, S., & Martin, M. M. (2014). Attribution theory in the college classroom: Examining the relationship of student attributions and instructional dissent. Communication Research Reports, 31, 110-116.; LaBelle, S. Booth-Butterfield, M., & Weber, K. (2013). Humorous communication and its effectiveness in coping with interpersonal transgressions. Communication Research Reports, 30, 221-229.; LaBelle, S., Martin, M. M., & Weber, K. (2013). Instructional dissent in the college classroom: A test of the Instructional Beliefs Model. Communication Education, 62, 169-190.; LaBelle, S., Booth-Butterfield, M., & Rittenour, C. E. (2013). Attitudes toward profoundly hearing impaired and deaf individuals: Links with intergroup anxiety, social dominance orientation, and contact. Western Journal of Communication, 77, 489-506.; Krezmien, E., Wanzer, M.B. , Servoss, T., & LaBelle, S. (2011). The role of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements and individual differences in getting people to talk to physicians. Journal of Health Communication, 8, 1-18.

Dr. Sara LaBelle

Biography

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Faculty Directories by School or College