Dr. Sara LaBelle

Dr. Sara LaBelle

Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Development
School of Communication; Communication Studies
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
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

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
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.
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., & Waldeck, J. H. (2020). Strategic communication for organizations. University of California Press.
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., 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
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. (2020). Assessing student precarities in higher education: Our responsibility as teachers and scholars. Communication Education. doi: 10.1080/03634523.2020.1724311
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., & 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
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., & 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
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). 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). 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.
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.
LaBelle, S., & Myers, S. A. (2016). The use of relational maintenance behaviors among sustained friendship types. Communication Research Reports, 33, 310-316.
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.
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.
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. 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.

Faculty Directories by School or College