Rate My Professor Analisa Arroyo

Analisa Arroyo is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia, where she joined as Assistant Professor in 2013, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, and to full Professor in 2025. She currently serves as Director of Graduate Studies since 2023, having previously held roles as Associate Department Head from 2020 to 2023, Interpersonal and Health Area Chair from 2017 to 2022, and Basic Course Director for Interpersonal Communication from 2018 to 2022. Affiliated with the Institute for Women’s Studies and the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research, Arroyo earned her Ph.D. in Communication with a minor in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona in 2013, M.A. in Communication from the University of Arizona in 2010, and B.A. in Communication and Sociology from The Ohio State University in 2008. She holds certificates in College Teaching from the University of Arizona, Diversity and Inclusion and Career Advocacy from the University of Georgia, and is a certified Body Trust® Specialist.

Arroyo’s research centers on health, interpersonal, and relational communication across three lines of inquiry: interpersonal communication and body image including negative body talk and disordered eating; intergenerational transmission of mental health such as parent-child depression, loneliness, and anxiety; and intergroup attitudes within interpersonal relationships encompassing sexism, weightism, and racism. Her scholarship highlights how communication in close relationships affects physical, mental, and social well-being and challenges dominant social discourses. Key publications include "Foster caregivers' depressive symptoms and parenting stress: Applying the theory of resilience and relational load" (Family Relations, 2024, with Richardson, Hargrove, and Futris); "Family communication patterns and racial microaggressions among White adult children" (Journal of Family Communication, 2023, with Curran and Fabbricatore); "The associations between White privilege critical consciousness, racial attitudes, and intergroup anxiety among parents and adult children in White families" (Communication Monographs, 2023, with Curran, Fabbricatore, and Jiao); "Feminist embodiment, body talk, and body image among mothers and daughters" (Body Image, 2022, with Stillion Southard and Martz); and "Voice as a mediator of mothers' and daughters' feminist attitudes and psychological outcomes" (Communication Monographs, 2020, with Woszidlo and Janovec). Her work appears in top journals like Communication Research and Human Communication Research and has received media coverage in Fox News, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and Fitness Magazine. Awards include promotion to Professor (2025), Associate Editor for Communication Monographs (2023-2024), Study in a Second Discipline Fellowship (2022), Waterhouse Family Institute grant (2024), and multiple top paper awards from the National Communication Association. She serves on editorial boards for Communication Research, Personal Relationships, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Journal of Family Communication, and guest edits special issues.