PhD

Public Health Department Chair and Professor

Bio

J. Brian Houston, PhD, is chair of the Department of Public Health at the University of Missouri and a professor in the departments of public health and communication. He is also director for the Disaster and Community Crisis Center (DCC) at the University of Missouri. 

Houston’s research focuses on communication at all phases of disasters and on the mental health effects and political consequences of community crises. Recent and current research projects have examined the impact of media coverage of terrorism on children and adults, the role of new media during disasters, and the capacity for using information communication technologies to increase community resilience. These projects are located at the intersections of the literatures addressing disasters, communication, media, public health, mental health, and political socialization.

Houston’s work has been supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR), and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Research interests

Disasters. Public, mental, and behavioral health. Resilience. Communication ecologies. Media effects. Persuasion.

Courses taught

• Comm 2500 – Introduction to Communication
• Comm 3580 – Crisis Communication
• Comm 9610 – Disaster, Risk and Crisis Communication

Select publications

First, J. M., & Houston, J. B. (2022). The mental health impacts of successive disasters: Examining the roles of individual and community resilience following a tornado and COVID-19. Clinical Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00830-y

Houston, J.B., Thorson, E., Kim, E.A. & Mantrala, M.K. (2021). COVID-19 communication ecology: Visualizing communication resource connections during a public health emergency using network analysis. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(7), 893-913. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764221992811

First, J., Yu, M., & Houston, J.B. (2021). Development and validation of the disaster adaptation and resilience scale (DARS): A measure to assess individual disaster resilience. Disasters, 45(4), 939-967. https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12452 

Houston, J.B., Thorson, E., Kim, E.A. & Mantrala, M.K. (2021). COVID-19 communication ecology: Visualizing communication resource connections during a public health emergency using network analysis. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(7), 893-913. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764221992811

Houston, J.B., First, J., & Danforth, L. (2019). Student coping with the effects of disasters media coverage: A qualitative study of school staff perceptions. School Mental Health: A Multidisciplinary Research and Practice Journal, 11, 522-534. doi: 10.1007/s12310-018-9295-y

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