Dr. Hannah Ball

Dr. Hannah Ball

Assistant Professor
School of Communication; Communication Studies
Office Location: Doti Hall 206
Office Hours: By appointment only
Education:
Canisius College, Bachelor of Arts
West Virginia University, Master of Arts
West Virginia University, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Hannah Ball (Ph.D., West Virginia University) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at Chapman University where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on health communication theory, message design, and research methods.

Dr. Ball’s research interests include health communication, persuasion, health campaigns, and family caregiving. Specifically, she uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to study theory-driven messaging that promotes public health (e.g., reducing prescription stimulant misuse, increasing vaccine confidence), the role of psychological reactance in the social influence process, and communication surrounding the adult child-older adult parent caregiving relationship. Her work has been published in Communication Monographs, Health Communication, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of American College Health, and Communication Quarterly, among other refereed journals. Additionally, Dr. Ball served as Associate Editor of Communication Research Reports from 2019-2021 and currently serves in a leadership role for the National Communication Association’s Communication and Aging Division.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Ball, H., Weber, K., Goodboy, A. K., Kunkle, C. E., Lilly, C. L., & Myers, S. A. (2023). A mixed methodological examination of older adults’ psychological reactance toward caregiving messages from their adult children. Communication Monographs, 90(2), 137-158. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2022.2128197
Ball, H., Wozniak, T. R., & Kuchenbecker, C. M. (2023). Shot Talk: Development and preliminary evaluation of a theory of planned behavior campaign to combat college student COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Journal of Health Communication, 28(2), 82-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2023.2183438
Bevan, J. L., & Ball, H. (2022). “Turning our lives upside down”: The transition to family caregiving. In D. O. Braithwaite, K. R. Rossetto, J. T. Child, & J. T. Wood (Eds.), Casing interpersonal communication: Case studies in personal and social relationships (3rd ed., pp. 261-268). Kendall Hunt.
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. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2060710
McGuire, N. H., & Ball, H. (2022). Extending psychological reactance theory to include denial of threat and media sharing intentions as freedom restoration behavior. Communication Research Reports, 39(3), 136-146. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2022.2058480
Bevan, J. L., Ball, H., Urbanovich, T., & Craw, E. S. (2021). Family caregiving burden in romantic relationships: A relational turbulence theory analysis. Communication Studies, 72(4), 652-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2021.1953095
Ball, H., & Wozniak, T. R. (2022). Why do some Americans resist COVID-19 prevention behavior? An analysis of issue importance, message fatigue, and reactance regarding COVID-19 messaging. Health Communication, 37(14), 1812-1819. http://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1920717
Ball, H., Bevan, J. L., Urbanovich, T., & Craw, E. S. (2022). Romantic partner interference and psychological reactance in the context of caregiving for an aging family member. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(3), 757-777. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211046244
LaBelle, S., Ball, H., Weber, K., White, A., & Hendry, A. (2020). The Rethink campaign to reduce the normalization of prescription stimulant misuse on college campuses. Communication Quarterly, 68(1), 1-28. http://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2019.1668446
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(1), 76-99. http://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2018.1533485
Myers, S. A., Goldman, Z. W., Atkinson, J., Ball, H., Carton, S. T., Tindage, M. F., & Anderson, A. O. (2016). Student civility in the college classroom: Exploring student use and effects of classroom citizenship behavior. Communication Education, 65(1), 64-82. http://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2015.1061197
Lancaster, A. L., Dillow, M. R., Ball, H., Borchert, K., & Tyler, W. J. C. (2016). Managing information about a romantic partner’s relationship history: An application of the theory of motivated information management. Southern Communication Journal, 81(2), 63-78. http://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2015.1089926
Myers, S. A., Atkinson, J., Ball, H., Goldman, Z. W., Tindage, M. F., & Carton, S. T. (2015). Engaging in effective instructional communication behaviors in the tutoring relationship. In W. Atkins-Sayre & E. L. Yook (Eds.), Communicating advice: Peer tutoring and communication practice (pp. 243-259). Peter Lang.
Myers, S. A., Goldman, Z. W., Ball, H., Carton, S. T., Atkinson, J., Tindage, M. F., & Anderson, A. O. (2015). Assessing college student use of anti-citizenship classroom behavior: Types, reasons, and association with learning outcomes. Communication Teacher, 29(4), 234-251. http://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2015.1064984
Brann, M., & Ball, H. (2014). Welcome to class: Exploring health communication and case study pedagogy. In M. Brann (Ed.), Contemporary case studies in health communication: Theoretical & applied approaches (2nd ed., pp. 1-19). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
Foster, S. C., Graham, N., Ball, H., & Wanzer, M. B. (2014). Mothers, sons, and testicular cancer: An exploratory investigation of health communication. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 15, 66-74. doi:10.1080/17459435.2014.955594
Ball, H., & Goodboy, A. K. (2014). An experimental investigation of the antecedents and consequences of psychological reactance in the college classroom. Communication Education, 63, 192-209. doi:10.1080/03634523.2014.918634
Ball, H., Wanzer, M. B., & Servoss, T. J. (2013). Parent-child communication on Facebook: Family communication patterns and young adults' decisions to "friend" parents. Communication Quarterly, 61, 615-629. doi:10.1080/01463373.2013.822406