Victoria Ledford

Education

Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park

M.A., Marshall University

B.A., Marshall University

About Me

Victoria Ledford is an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Auburn University. Dr. Ledford’s research expertise is in health communication, message effects, and stigma, and she researches and teaches these topics. In addition, Dr. Ledford studies supportive and effective teaching strategies in her research and believes that high-quality teaching practices, like effective practices across all areas of communication, serve students best when they are derived from evidence-based strategies. She enjoys learning alongside students and views the classroom as a space where student voice and creativity should thrive. Prior to teaching at Auburn, Dr. Ledford served as a Director of K-12 Research and Professional Services at the research firm, Hanover Research, and spent several years teaching communication courses at the University of Maryland and Marshall University.

Dr. Ledford’s research is broadly concerned with health, persuasion, message effects, and stigma reduction. Simply put, she does research that asks and answers: “how can we create health messages that persuade people to enact healthy behaviors but do not stigmatize them for not doing so?” To answer this broad question, she studies (1) the effects of stigmatizing messages on people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to varied topics including opioids and autism; (2) what strategies are most effective at changing people’s beliefs—including perceptions of risk and stigma—attitudes, and behaviors; and finally (3) how people in stigmatized communities are affected by public health messages, particularly among issues where health disparities are evident. Across each of these three areas, Dr. Ledford primarily uses survey and experimental methods though she genuinely believes that the research question drives the method. That’s why she has also published qualitative research and frequently collaborates with qualitative researchers to conduct interviews and analyze other forms of qualitative data. Dr. Ledford’s work has been published in peer-reviewed outlets including Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Stigma and Health, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, Communication Education, Communication Teacher, the Basic Course Communication Annual, the International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, the Handbook of Language in Public Health and Healthcare, and Metode Science Studies. She also frequently presents her work at conferences regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Outside the office, Dr. Ledford spends her time enjoying dinner parties with friends, playing board games, lifting weights at her gym, and traveling the world with the people she loves. She’s also known for always trying new recipes at home and is currently enjoying making kebabs and fattoush salad.

Research Interests

health, persuasion, message effects, stigma reduction

Publications

Ledford, V. A. (2025). Don’t call them “unclean” or “unkempt”: Analyzing the harmful direct and indirect effects of opioid stigma marks on stigmatizing attitudes and behavioral intentions. Journal of Health Communication. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2025.2552949

Ledford, V. A. (2025). The peril of opioid stigma peril: Experimental evidence for removing danger-based health appeals. Stigma and Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000638

Lim, J. R., Jun, H., & Ledford, V. A. (2025). Building trust and inclusivity: Navigating layered stigma and risk communication for LGBTQ+ individuals during COVID-19 outbreaks. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 33(1), e70026. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.70026

Ashby-King, D. T., Iannacone, J., Salzano, M., & Ledford, V. (2025). Theorizing critical care: Examining communication instructors’ care-based pedagogies. Communication Teacher. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2025.2489661

Ledford, V., A. & Ashby-King, D. T. (2024). Effective instructor feedback doesn’t always promote better public speaking outcomes: The importance of self-efficacy and feedback orientation(s) in the introductory course. Communication Education, 74(1), 52–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2024.2430770

Ledford, V., Cosavalente, H. P. G., Jackson, D. N., Carter, C., Saperstein, S. L., Baur, C., Balaban, A., & Fish, J. N. (2024). An almost empty scoping review: State of the research on tobacco prevention and cessation messaging strategies for Black and/or Latine LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Health Communication, 40(5), 822-836. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2370725

Morreale, S., Broeckelman-Post, M., Anderson, L., Ledford, V., & Westwick, J. (2023). The importance, significance, and relevance of communication: A fourth study on the criticality of the discipline’s content and pedagogy. Communication Education, 72(4), 382-407. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2023.2178663

Ledford, V., & Nan, X. (2022). Using communication science to accelerate adult and childhood vaccination. Metode Science Studies Journal, 13. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.13.23759

Ledford, V., Wang, X., Anderson, L. B., Leach, J., Lucas, M., & Mazzone, R. (2022). Communication apprehension in the online presentational speaking course: Considerations for synchronous course meetings and asynchronous presentations. Communication Teacher, 37(1), 64-82. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2022.2046284

Ma, X., Ma, R., & Ledford, V. (2022). Is my story better than his story? Understanding the effects and mechanisms of narrative point of view in the opioid context. Health Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2022.2037198

Ledford, V., & Salzano, M. (2022). The Instagram Activism Slideshow—Translating argumentation and communication skills to social media practice. Communication Teacher, 36(4), 258-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2021.2024865

Ledford, V., Lim, J. K., Namkoong, K., Chen, J., & Qin, Y. (2021). The influence of stigmatizing messages on danger appraisal: Examining the model of stigma communication for opioid-related stigma, policy support, and related outcomes. Health Communication, 37(14), 1765-1777. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1920710

Ashby-King, D. T., Iannacone, J. I., Ledford, V. A., Farzad-Phillips, A., Salzano, M., & Anderson, L. B. (2021). Expanding and constraining critical communication pedagogy in the basic communication course: A critique of assessment rubrics. Communication Teacher, 36(3), 187-203. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2021.1975789

Underhill, J., Ledford, V., & Adams, H. (2021). “Public speaking is a skill that everyone needs no matter what:” Exploring peer perceptions toward creating inclusive basic course classrooms for students on the autism spectrum. Basic Course Communication Annual, 33, Article 9.

Qin, Y., Chen, J., Namkoong, K., Ledford, V., & Lim, J. K. (2020). Increasing perceived risk of opioid misuse: The power of concrete language and the use of images. Health Communication, 37(4), 425-437. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1846323

Underhill, J., Ledford, V., & Adams, H. (2019). Autism stigma in communication classrooms: Exploring peer attitudes and motivations toward interacting with atypical students. Communication Education, 68(2), 175-192. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2019.1569247

Courses Taught

COMM 3510: Research in Human Communication
COMM 4480: Health Communication Campaigns
COMM 5470: Health Communication
COMM 7020: Quantitative Methods of Communication Research
COMM 7970: Stigma, Communication and Identity