H. Luz McNaughton Reyes, PhD

About

Dr. Luz Reyes is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior. Dr. Reyes’ research focuses on the etiology and prevention of violence, substance use and sexual risk behaviors across the life-course, with a particular focus on adolescent populations.

The two focal areas of her current program of research are: (1) understanding the developmental pathways that lead to adolescent dating violence and (2) the development and evaluation of interventions to prevent health risk behaviors during the early life-course.

Dr. Reyes has also worked extensively throughout the Central America region on health sector research and intervention projects related to reproductive health and rights. She currently instructs the required advanced research methods course for doctoral students in the Department of Health Behavior.

H. Luz McNaughton Reyes in the Gillings News

• Maman named chair of Gillings School's Department of Health Behavior
• Alcohol warning labels may not be reaching US adults, new research suggests
• Seven Gillings faculty earn Provost Awards
• 2026 trends according to 10 Gillings School experts
• Landmark findings from Vietnam: A tailored implementation improves HIV interventions for people who inject drugs

Representative Courses

Advanced Research Methods I, HBEH 760 | Syllabus

Advanced Research Methods II, HBEH 761 | Syllabus

Key Publications

Patterns of Dating Violence Victimization and Perpetration among Latino Youth. Reyes H. L., Foshee V. A., Chen M. S., Ennett S. T. (2016). Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Familial influences on dating violence victimization among Latino youth. Reyes, H. L. M., Foshee, V. A., Klevens, J., Tharp, A. T., Chapman, M.V., Chen, M. S., & Ennett, S. T. (2016). Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 25(8), 773-792.

Substance use and physical dating violence: The role of contextual moderators. Reyes, H. L. M., Foshee, V. A., Klevens, J., Tharp, A. T., Chapman, M.V., Chen, M. S., Ennett, S. T. (2015). American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(3), 467-475.

Gender role attitudes and male adolescent dating violence perpetration: Normative beliefs as moderators. Reyes, H. L. M., Foshee, V. A., Niolon, P. H., Reidy, D. E., and Hall, J. E. (2015). Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 286(5), 572-579.

Education

• PhD, Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009
• MPH, Community Health Sciences, Tulane University, 2000
• BA, Biology / Spanish, Franklin and Marshall College, 1998