Dr Srebrenka Letina
- Research Associate (MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit)
Biography
I have a PhD in Network Science (Central European University) and a PhD in Psychology (University of Zagreb). My undergraduate studies were in psychology.
I consider myself an interdisciplinary researcher, and my research identity is most aligned with the field of computational social science and general research frameworks found in complexity research and analytical sociology.
Previous work experience
Previously, I have worked at:
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest, Hungary),
- Instutute for Analytical Sociology (Linköping University, Sweden)
- Institute for Social Research (Croatia).
I have been a research visitor at:
- Social Networks Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne
- Psychological Methods, University of Amsterdam
- Complexity Science Hub (Vienna, Austria)
Research interests
I am interested in:
- the complexity of interrelationships between people (social networks: socio-centric and ego-centric; positive ties and negative ties), but also
- between health conditions and psychological constructs (e.g., psychological networks, multi-comorbidity networks)
- topics at intersection of psychology (social psychology, personality) and mental health and health behaviours
In my research I like to use advanced statistical (quantitative) methods (e.g., models for network data such as ERGMs, ALAAMs, etc.) and different types of datasets (psychometric data, population register data, extracted databases, etc.)
I often (but not exclusively) use network approaches in theory and methods.
Current projects
Currently I am working at:
- The project about interplay of social networks and health outcomes in adolescents (PI: Mark McCann, University of Glasgow)
- Developing an analytical framework for analysing ego-network data using many ego-net measures simultaneously in effort to uncover different types of ego-networks and examine their associations with relevant (e.g., health) individual outcomes (in collaboration with Elena Gonzalez Tinoco and Isidro Maya Jariego at the University of Seville)
- Integration of brokerage theory and signed networks, with Paul Schuler (University of Edinburgh) and Karoly Takacs (Linköping University)
Grants
Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.
- Are compliance behaviours socially contagious amongst students?
2020 - 2021
Supervision
- Omiridou, Eleni
How do peers influence adolescent health behaviour? Using social network analysis to understand mechanisms in peer-led interventions.
Master thesis, co-supervised:
"Social interactions, loneliness, and mental health in adolescents: A secondary data analysis of the Net4Health pilot study" - Liam Brady, University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Masters in Public Health, 2023.
"Association between social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescents aged 12-15 living in Scotland: Examining gender differences and the mediating role of body image" - Melih Caner İnançlı, University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Masters in Public Health, 2021.
"The Broker's Invisible Ties: Brokerage and Balance in Signed Networks" - Paul Schuler, Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, The Institute for Analytical Sociology, IAS. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 2021.
Enquires about supervision are welcomed.
Teaching
Currently:
- an on-line workshop “Introduction to Networks and Health Improvements” with the team at Social & Public Health Sciences Unit (2021, 2022)
Previously:
- Social Networks in Master’s programme in Computational Social Science, with Christian Steglich, Karoly Takacs, and Robert Krause (Linköping University (2019 - 2021))
- Social networks (TA) - PhD and MA students at Central European University (2018)
Professional activities & recognition
Prizes, awards & distinctions
- 2019: Central European University (Award for Advanced Doctoral student)
Research fellowships
- 2015 - 2015: Endeavour Research Fellowship, Australian Government
Professional & learned societies
- 2018: member, International Network of Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
Selected international presentations
- 2022: 6th European Conference on Social Networks (London, UK)
- 2022: International Sunbelt Social Network Conference (Cairns, Australia)
- 2021: 5th European Conference on Social Networks (Naples, Italy)
Supplementary
- Social Network Analysis in Scotland group (SNAS) Seal of Excellence for Marie Curie Sklodowska Individual Fellowship proposal (2016, 2017) Plos One - academic editor (2023 - )