Danni Liao

Biographic Data

ID245065
NAMEDanni Liao
GIVEN NAMESDanni
FAMILY NAMELiao
SIGNATURELIAO D
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Kentucky
ORCID0000-0002-0719-4229
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS10
TOTAL CITATIONS6
WORKS AS AUTHOR10
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2019
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX2

  • Patient Evaluation of International Medical Graduates’ Verbal and Nonverbal Strategies to Manage Their Lack of Comprehension

    Open AccessDanni Liao, L M GuntzvillerARTICLECommunication Research2026

    Guided by goal understanding theory, we investigated how U.S. patients evaluate communication strategies international medical graduates (IMGs) adopt to manage their lack of comprehension of patient idioms. Participants ( N = 569) watched a video of an IMG and a patient interacting in a 3 (verbal: being blunt, feigning comprehension, providing rationale) × 2 (nonverbal: higher, lower immediacy) × 2 (message variations: “out of sorts,” “frog in th…

  • Beyond the Words

    Danni Liao, Jia Yan et al.ARTICLEHealth Communication2025

    Past research has found an association between physicians' communication and patients' intentions to seek health information during medical encounters, yet the mechanisms mediating this process remain unclear. Guided by the theory of motivated information management (TMIM) and discrepant verbal-nonverbal profile (DVNP) theory, this study explores how physicians' verbal and nonverbal communication influence patients' intentions to seek health info…

  • Social support and psychological distress among international students in China

    Yang Liu, Danni Liao et al.ARTICLEStudies in Higher Education2025

    Previous studies have pinpointed that either the quantity or the quality of social support from local people and sojourners plays a pivotal role in enhancing international students’ sense of belonging and reducing their psychological distress while studying abroad. Instead of examining support quantity and quality separately, we integrated them into one study and highlighted international students’ sense of belonging as a key mechanism, offering …

  • Coping, surviving, or thriving

    Open AccessDanni Liao, Manuel D Pulido et al.ARTICLESocial Science & Medicine2024References: 19

  • Using Normative Rhetorical Theory to Identify Dilemmas and Responses in Internal Medicine Patient-Provider Communication

    Danni Liao, Lindsay F Kelpinski et al.ARTICLEHealth Communication2023

    Drawing on normative rhetorical theory (NRT), we examined communication dilemmas that internal medicine residents (IMRs) experience when interacting with patients and responses they adopt to manage these dilemmas. We conducted semi-structured, intensive interviews with 15 IMRs and analyzed the data using the phronetic iterative approach. Findings suggested that IMRs experienced two interpersonal dilemmas: (a) asserting expertise while respecting …

  • Denying and Accepting a Family Member’s Illness

    C M Thompson, Lynsey Romo et al.ARTICLEHealth Communication2023

    Doubt is a common, yet challenging form of uncertainty to have about another's illness. Although navigating illness uncertainty is a process of continual (re)appraisal and management, existing research narrowly examines windows of uncertainty experience. To illustrate how uncertainty management in the context of doubt is recursive, nonlinear, and ongoing, we apply a process approach to communication to uncertainty management theory. Drawing on in…

  • I changed, I had to realize that I was wrong

    Open AccessC M Thompson, Sara Babu et al.ARTICLEJournal of Social and Personal…2022Cited by: 4References: 39

    Doubt that a family member's health issues are real, severe, or even possible entwines some of the most challenging aspects of medical, personal, and social uncertainty. Although several studies have examined doubt, this investigation focuses on how doubt evolves and foregrounds the identity implications of uncertainty. Guided by Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the purpose of this study was to explore the identity gaps people experience a…

  • Advisor Interaction Goals and Verbal Messages

    Open AccessL M Guntzviller, Manuel D Pulido et al.ARTICLEJournal of Language and Social…2020References: 27

    Based on the integrated model of advice giving and theorizing about interaction goals, we examined how advisors’ goal intensity and complexity predicted perceptions of advisor harmfulness and helpfulness. We also examined predictors of goal intensity and complexity, such as advisors’ relational satisfaction with recipients, which generally increased goal intensity and complexity. Recipients and advisors rated advisors’ behaviors as more helpful w…

  • Could I be pregnant? A study of online adolescent pregnancy forums for social support

    Open AccessEryn N Bostwick, Danni Liao et al.ARTICLEFirst Monday2019

    Research on adolescent parenthood has found one of the most critical predictors of offspring’s well-being is social support; however, scholars have also found that expectant adolescents sometimes experience a lack of support from their face-to-face networks. Very little research has examined how adolescent parents might make up for this discrepancy by utilizing mediated social networks; therefore, this study aims to fill a gap in the literature b…

  • Extending advice response theory to the advisor

    L M Guntzviller, Danni Liao et al.ARTICLECommunication Monographs2019Cited by: 2References: 8

    We extended advice response theory by drawing from construal-level theory to understand advisors’ evaluation processes and how advisors’ and recipients’ evaluations impact each other. An actor-partner interdependence model (N = 130 dyads) indicated, for both advisors and recipients, advisor expertise assessments were positively associated with advice facework and efficacy evaluations, which were positively associated with advice quality ratings. …