Contact Information
702 South Wright Street
Urbana IL 61801
Office Hours
Research Areas
Biography
Jia is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research examines how communication in interpersonal relationships facilitates mental and physical well-being. A key area of her work investigates support-seeking communication in health-related contexts, particularly where identity threats linked to health conditions are present. Additionally, Jia studies the effects of health recommendations on individuals' appraisals and behavioral intentions.
Research Interests
Interpersonal Communication, Health Communication, Supportive Communication, Quantitative Methods
Education
B.A., Communication and Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
M.A., Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Awards and Honors
Marion Morse Wood Fellowship (2024-2025)
Courses Taught
CMN101: Public Speaking
CMN102: Introduction to Communication
CMN230: Introduction to Interpersonal Communication
CMN336: Family Communication
Recent Publications
Yan, J., Wilson, S. R., & Liao, D. (In Press). Imagine your immune system is a sports team: Language expectancies in the use of physician analogies and jargon. Patient Education & Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2025.108810
Yan, J., & Bigsby, E. (2025). Explicating college students’ COVID-19 prevention behaviors: Integrating information seeking and response efficacy into the reasoned action approach. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2025.2451978
Quick, B. L., Caban, S., Chung, M., & Yan, J. (2025). Introducing Health Communication Science to Mental Health Researchers: An Examination of Information Seeking, Processing, and Dissemination Frameworks. In Yzer, M. & Siegel, J. (Eds.), The Handbook of Mental Health Communication, Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394179909
Thompson, C. M., Bishop, M. J., Dillard, T. C., Maurice, J. M., Rollins, D. D., Pulido, M. D., Salas, M. J., Mendelson, E. A., Yan, J., Gerlikovski, E. R., Benevento, S. V., Zeinstra, C., & Kesavadas, T. (2025). Healing health care disparities: A pilot test of a virtual reality implicit bias training module for physicians in the context of Black maternal health. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2347000
Liao, D., Yan, J., & Wilson, S. R. (2023). How does physician (non)accommodation affect patient behavioral intention? Using a web-based experiment to examine indirect effects of language type on behavioral intention through goal inferences and source appraisals. Journal of Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2023.2237435