Dr Srebrenka Letina
- Honorary Research Fellow (School of Health & Wellbeing)
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)
Publications
2024
Letina, S., Long, E. , Mccrorie, P. , Mitchell, K. , Zucca, C., Riddell, J. , Simpson, S. A. , Moore, L. and McCann, M. (2024) Cross-sectional social network study of adolescent peer group variation in substance use and mental wellbeing: the importance of the meso-level. Social Networks, 78, pp. 119-137. (doi: 10.1016/j.socnet.2023.12.002)
McCann, M. , Bianchi, F., Letina, S., Stewart, S., McLeod, K. and Tranmer, M. (2024) A social network analysis approach to assess COVID19-related disruption to substance use treatment and informal social interactions among people who use drugs in Scotland. Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, 19, 42. (doi: 10.1186/s13722-024-00469-3) (PMID:38778422) (PMCID:PMC11110318)
Long, E. , Thomson, M. , Milicev, J. , Goodfellow, C. , Letina, S., Bradley, S. and McCann, M. (2024) Loneliness, social support, and social networks: Urban-rural variation and links to wellbeing in Scotland. Journal of Public Health, (doi: 10.1007/s10389-024-02236-9) (Early Online Publication)
2022
Wismans, A. et al. (2022) Face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic: how risk perception, experience with COVID-19, and attitude towards government interact with country-wide policy stringency. BMC Public Health, 22, 1622. (doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13632-9) (PMID:36028876) (PMCID:PMC9412789)
2021
Takacs, K., Gross, J., Testori, M., Letina, S., Kenny, A. R., Power, E. A. and Wittek, R. P. M. (2021) Networks of reliable reputations and cooperation: a review. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376(1838), 20200297. (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0297)
Wismans, A. et al. (2021) The role of impulsivity and delay discounting in student compliance with COVID-19 protective measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 179, 110925. (doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110925)
2020
Maya-Jariego, I., Letina, S. and González Tinoco, E. (2020) Personal networks and psychological attributes: exploring individual differences in personality and sense of community and their relationship to the structure of personal networks. Network Science, 8(2), pp. 168-188. (doi: 10.1017/nws.2019.15)
Wismans, A. et al. (2020) Hygiene and social distancing as distinct public health related behaviours among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Psychological Bulletin, 15(4), (doi: 10.32872/spb.4383)
2019
Letina, S., Blanken, T. F., Deserno, M. K. and Borsboom, D. (2019) Expanding network analysis tools in psychological networks: minimal spanning trees, participation coefficients, and motif analysis applied to a network of 26 psychological attributes. Complexity, 2019, 9424605. (doi: 10.1155/2019/9424605)
2016
Letina, S. (2016) Network and actor attribute effects on the performance of researchers in two fields of social science in a small peripheral community. Journal of Informetrics, 10(2), pp. 571-595. (doi: 10.1016/j.joi.2016.03.007)
Letina, S., Robins, G. and Maslić Seršić, D. (2016) Reaching out from a small scientific community: the social influence models of collaboration across national and disciplinary boundaries for scientists in three fields of social sciences. Revija za Sociologiju, 46(2), pp. 103-139. (doi: 10.5613/rzs.46.2.1)
2012
Letina, S., Zauder, K. and Jokić, M. (2012) Produktivnost hrvatskih psihologa: scientometrijska analiza mreže suradnji na radovima indeksiranim u bazi WoS 1991-2010 = The productivity of Croatian psychologists: a scientometric analysis of network cooperation on works indexed in the WoS database from 1991 to 2010. Suvremena Psihologija, 15(1), pp. 97-117.
Articles
Letina, S., Long, E. , Mccrorie, P. , Mitchell, K. , Zucca, C., Riddell, J. , Simpson, S. A. , Moore, L. and McCann, M. (2024) Cross-sectional social network study of adolescent peer group variation in substance use and mental wellbeing: the importance of the meso-level. Social Networks, 78, pp. 119-137. (doi: 10.1016/j.socnet.2023.12.002)
McCann, M. , Bianchi, F., Letina, S., Stewart, S., McLeod, K. and Tranmer, M. (2024) A social network analysis approach to assess COVID19-related disruption to substance use treatment and informal social interactions among people who use drugs in Scotland. Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, 19, 42. (doi: 10.1186/s13722-024-00469-3) (PMID:38778422) (PMCID:PMC11110318)
Long, E. , Thomson, M. , Milicev, J. , Goodfellow, C. , Letina, S., Bradley, S. and McCann, M. (2024) Loneliness, social support, and social networks: Urban-rural variation and links to wellbeing in Scotland. Journal of Public Health, (doi: 10.1007/s10389-024-02236-9) (Early Online Publication)
Wismans, A. et al. (2022) Face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic: how risk perception, experience with COVID-19, and attitude towards government interact with country-wide policy stringency. BMC Public Health, 22, 1622. (doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13632-9) (PMID:36028876) (PMCID:PMC9412789)
Takacs, K., Gross, J., Testori, M., Letina, S., Kenny, A. R., Power, E. A. and Wittek, R. P. M. (2021) Networks of reliable reputations and cooperation: a review. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376(1838), 20200297. (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0297)
Wismans, A. et al. (2021) The role of impulsivity and delay discounting in student compliance with COVID-19 protective measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 179, 110925. (doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110925)
Maya-Jariego, I., Letina, S. and González Tinoco, E. (2020) Personal networks and psychological attributes: exploring individual differences in personality and sense of community and their relationship to the structure of personal networks. Network Science, 8(2), pp. 168-188. (doi: 10.1017/nws.2019.15)
Wismans, A. et al. (2020) Hygiene and social distancing as distinct public health related behaviours among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Psychological Bulletin, 15(4), (doi: 10.32872/spb.4383)
Letina, S., Blanken, T. F., Deserno, M. K. and Borsboom, D. (2019) Expanding network analysis tools in psychological networks: minimal spanning trees, participation coefficients, and motif analysis applied to a network of 26 psychological attributes. Complexity, 2019, 9424605. (doi: 10.1155/2019/9424605)
Letina, S. (2016) Network and actor attribute effects on the performance of researchers in two fields of social science in a small peripheral community. Journal of Informetrics, 10(2), pp. 571-595. (doi: 10.1016/j.joi.2016.03.007)
Letina, S., Robins, G. and Maslić Seršić, D. (2016) Reaching out from a small scientific community: the social influence models of collaboration across national and disciplinary boundaries for scientists in three fields of social sciences. Revija za Sociologiju, 46(2), pp. 103-139. (doi: 10.5613/rzs.46.2.1)
Letina, S., Zauder, K. and Jokić, M. (2012) Produktivnost hrvatskih psihologa: scientometrijska analiza mreže suradnji na radovima indeksiranim u bazi WoS 1991-2010 = The productivity of Croatian psychologists: a scientometric analysis of network cooperation on works indexed in the WoS database from 1991 to 2010. Suvremena Psihologija, 15(1), pp. 97-117.
Grants
Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.
- Are compliance behaviours socially contagious amongst students?
FORMAS (Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development)
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 - )
