Chantel Haughton

Chantel Haughton (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara; M.A., UC Santa Barbara; B.A., University of Iowa) is an Assistant Professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue. Chantel’s research examines how compounding stressors affect the well-being of families, especially Black and Latinx families, and the communication processes (e.g., social support, confirming and disconfirming messages, and conflict) they use that help or hurt their personal and relational health. Using a mixed-methods approach, she considers the intersection of racial and ethnic stigma, chronic stress, mental health, and communication. 

She has created a foundation for promising future avenues to explore communication about mental health in the family. In addition to contributing to the development of the knowledge base on mental health communication, she is working to expand the literature regarding people of color, as their experiences have traditionally been devalued in academia. More specifically, she explores the mechanisms behind cultural differences in communication practices (as the differences have begun to be documented).

Ultimately, she hopes to understand how minority families can foster resilience and thrive in spite of compounding stressors. Considering the foundational role mental health plays in the well-being of individuals, the family, and society, she believes it is essential to understand the best ways to communicate about this stigmatized issue.