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| Kurt Ribisl, Ph.D.
Associate Professor |  |
Research Interests
Kurt Ribisl's primary research interest is in the area of mass media and policy-based interventions to reduce health risks in community settings. His current research is in the area of tobacco control. Specifically, he is interested in how underage youth obtain access to tobacco products, the development of interventions to reduce youth access to tobacco, and tobacco marketing strategies in retail outlets. His newest research interest addresses how smoking is glamorized on the World Wide Web and whether Internet cigarette vendors are taking adequate precautions to prevent illegal tobacco sales to minors. He teaches a course entitled The Internet and Public Health: Promises and Perils.
Recent Accomplishments and Honors
I have conducted the first empirical study to estimate the number of Web sites selling cigarettes, and to show that many of these Web sites appear to violate tax reporting laws that will cause states to lose significant cigarette excise tax revenue. I also conducted the first study of whether youth can buy cigarettes from Web sites selling cigarettes - 92% of the time
they are successful.
Member, (2003 to present) Delta Omega, Honorary Society in Public Health (theta chapter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
Publications
Ribisl, K. M., Williams, R. S., & Kim, A. E. (2003). Internet sales of
cigarettes to minors. Journal of the American Medical Association,
290,1356-1359.
Cheh, J. A., Ribisl, K. M., & Wildemuth, B. M. (2003). An assessment of the
quality and usability of smoking cessation information on the Internet.
Health Promotion Practice, 4, 278-287.
Ribisl, K. M. (2003). The potential of the internet as a medium to encourage
and discourage youth tobacco use. Tobacco Control, 12(Suppl 1), i48-i59.
Ribisl, K. M., Lee, R. E., Henriksen, L., & Haladjian, H. (2003). A content
analysis of web sites promoting smoking culture and lifestyle. Health
Education & Behavior, 30, 64-78.
Ribisl, K. M., Kim, A. E., & Williams, R. S. (2002). Are the sales practices
of Internet cigarette vendors good enough to prevent sales to minors?
American Journal of Public Health, 92, 940-941.
Ribisl, K. M., Kim, A. E., & Williams, R. S. (2001). Web sites selling
cigarettes: How many are there in the USA and what are their sales
practices? Tobacco Control, 10, 352-359.
Unger, J. B., Rohrbach, L. A., & Ribisl, K. M. (2001). Are adolescents
attempting to buy cigarettes on the Internet? Tobacco Control, 10, 360-363.
Norman, G. J., Ribisl, K. M., Howard-Pitney, B., & Howard, K. A. (1999).
Smoking bans in the home and car: Do those who really need them, have them?
Preventive Medicine, 29, 581-589.
Thom, D. H., Ribisl, K. M., Stewart, A. L., & Luke, D. A. (1999). Further
validation and reliability testing of the Trust in Physician Scale. Medical
Care, 37(5), 510-517.
Ribisl, K. M., Winkleby, M. A., Fortmann, S. P., & Flora, J. A. (1998). The
interplay of socioeconomic status and ethnicity on Hispanic and White men's
cardiovascular disease risk and health communication patterns. Health
Education Research, 13, 407-417.
E-mail: kurt_ribisl@unc.edu
Telephone: (919) 843-8042
FAX: (919) 966-2921
Address: 305 Rosenau Hall Chapel Hill, NC
