Research Program

Rikki is a critical-interpretive scholar who investigates stigma, identity, and inequity as they impact health communication and organizing. She is particularly interested in how stigma, when understood as an inherently power-laden communication process, impacts health and creates health inequities in a variety of contexts, including mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and autoimmune conditions.

Below you can find publications, infographics, and conference presentation slides and graphics.

PUBLICATIONS

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

Velasquez, A., Roscoe, R. A., & Ajetunmobi, U. O. (2026). Shame, suspicion, surveillance, and blame: The neoliberal undergirding of stigma experienced and managed by Latino/as in the United States. International Journal of Communication, Currently in press.

Roscoe, R. A., & Hernandez, R. (2025). Exploring the abortion stigma hierarchy in reproductive healthcare. Women’s Reproductive Health, Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2025.2553608

Roscoe, R. A. & Meisenbach, R. J. (2025). Beyond abortion: Employee experiences of organizational core stigma transfer, synecdochical stigma, and occupational taint at Planned Parenthood. Management Communication Quarterly, 39(4), 713-738. https://doi.org/10.1177/089331892513446

Schroeder, M., Roscoe, R. A., & Winter, V. S. (2025). Weight stigma and implicit bias in healthcare: Investigating the impact of women’s body size on continuity of care and communication about sexual and reproductive health. Women’s Reproductive Health, 12(3), 873-889. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2025.2524377

Roscoe, R. A. (2025). Narrating the sociocultural experience and management of stigma related to military caregiving. Health Communication, 40(4), 642-653. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2360177

Roscoe, R. A., Riles, J., & Schroeder, M. (2024). News media portrayals of military-related posttraumatic stress: Influences of stigma and halo communication on support for government health intervention. Journal of Health Communication, 29(5), 319-326. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2024.2339239

Roscoe, R. A. (2024). The elephant in my head: A layered account autoethnography on managing courtesy stigma. Journal of Autoethnography.

Ranjit, Y. S., Meisenbach, R. M., Roscoe, R. A., Joshi, O. (2024). Understanding mobile use behavior, stigma, and associated needs among female sex workers in Nepal: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Communication, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1259463

Roscoe, R. A. (2023). Stigma communication about invisible illness: Military and public stigma about veterans experiencing posttraumatic stress. Communication Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2023.2221702

Ranjit, Y. S., Davis, W. M., Fentem, A., Riorden, R., Roscoe, R. A., & Cavazos-Rehg. (2023). Text message exchanged between individuals with opioid use disorder and their mHealth e-Coaches: A content analysis study. JMIR Human Factors. https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2023/1/e37351

Roscoe, R. A. (2021). The battle against mental health stigma: Examining how veterans with PTSD communicatively manage stigma. Health Communication, 36(11), 1378-1387. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1754587

Roscoe, R. A., & Anderson, J. (2019). Civilian and veteran perceptions of communicated stigma about veterans with PTSD. Discourse: The Journal of the Speech Communication Association of South Dakota, 5. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/discoursejournal/vol5/iss1/1/

BOOK CHAPTERS

Velasquez, A., & Roscoe, R. A. (2026). “They make us out to be a plague, coming to ruin the country”: Right-wing populism, stigma power, and U.S. Latinos in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. In B. Warner, D. Bystrom, & M. Mckinney (Eds.), Democracy on the line: The Turbulent 2024 Presidential Election.

Roscoe, R. A. (2026). Communicating Stigma about U.S. Military-Related Posttraumatic Stress. Mental Health Communication for Underserved Populations. Bloomsbury.

Watson, O., & Roscoe, R. A. (2023). Intergenerational Communication about Sexual and Reproductive Health. Casing the Family, 2nd Edition.

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

Roscoe, R. A. (In Press). Antistigma. The Sage Encyclopedia of Menstruation and Society.

Meisenbach, R., & Roscoe, R. A. (2022). Stigma management. International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119678816.iehc0840