PristupačnostVanesa Varga
About employee
Vanesa Varga, dr. sc.
Biography
She was born on February 27, 1986 in Pakrac. She completed primary and secondary school (gymnasium) in Zagreb. She obtained the title assistant professor in the scientific field of information and communication sciences on April 18, 2023 at the Croatian Catholic University. She held her inaugural lecture entitled "Habits and motives for using smartphones in adolescents" at the Croatian Catholic University on March 14, 2023. She obtained the scientific title of research associate in the scientific field of information and communication sciences on December 13, 2021 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. She was obtained the title of associate assistant on March 29, 2018 at the Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb (today the Faculty of Croatian Studies) in the scientific field of information and communication sciences.
In 2020, she defended her doctoral dissertation entitled "The Role of Social Media in the Promotion of Animal Rights and Welfare" and obtained the academic title of Doctor of Science in the scientific field of social sciences, scientific field of information and communication science.
In 2021, she was employed as a postdoctoral researcher (today a senior assistant) at the Croatian Catholic University on the project funded by the Croatian Science Foundation (UIP-2019-04-7545) and the Croatian Catholic University (project leader is Assoc. Prof. Marina Merkaš) entitled "Digital Technology in the Family: Patterns of Behaviour and Effects on Child Development". In 2013, she was employed as a trainee curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. There, she collaborated in the revision of the Collection of Drawings, Prints, Posters and Works on Paper and the Revision of the Kožarić Studio. She collaborated on the digitization of the Ivan Picelj Archive and in the realization of retrospective exhibitions of Vojin Bakić and Julije Knifer. She passed the professional exam for the museum documentarian officer on June 16, 2015. Her professional work published by the Museum Documentation Center is entitled “Digitalization of the Photo Library of the Benko Horvat Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb” (2015).
She earned her Master of Education in Croatology degree in 2012 at the Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb (today the Faculty of Croatian Studies). Her thesis is entitled “Marulić’s Attitude towards Ancient Spiritual Culture on the Example of the Davidiadas”. In the same year, she earned her Master of Communication Studies degree. Her thesis is entitled “Family on the Internet: Communication, Identity, Image and Commercialization”. She earned her Master of Museology and Heritage Management degree in 2013 at the FFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. Her thesis is entitled “Virtual Ancient Egyptian Collections: Croato-Aegyptica and Opportunities for International Cooperation”.
She began teaching as an external associate at the Croatian Studies (today the Faculty of Croatian Studies) in the academic year 2013/2014 on the course Social Media. In the academic years 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 she taught the course Founders of Communication Studies and Their Works. In the academic year 2019/2020 she taught the course Historical Overview of Mass Communication Research. From the academic year 2022/2023 at the Faculty of Croatian Studies she teaches the courses Sociological Aspects of Mass Communication, Legal Aspects of Mass Communication, Concepts and Theories of Media Effects Research. At the Croatian Catholic University she introduced and taught the courses Visual Communication and Internet Activism during the academic years 2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 at the Department of Communication Studies. At the Department of Psychology, she introduced the course Communication and Presentation Skills, which she began teaching in the winter semester of the academic year 2023/2024. She has also been teaching at the Faculty of Graphic Arts in Zagreb since the academic year 2020/2021, in the courses: Communication, Business Communication, Graphic Design Communication, Visual Communications and Media Communication.
During 2023, she was the leader of the one-year scientific project of the Croatian Catholic University "Happiness is not in things: the role of the media, parents and peers in shaping materialism in children" (HKS-2023). Also, during 2023, she was the leader of the professional project "Family and individual media use plan: interactive advisory website" funded by the Agency for Electronic Media.
She attended two summer schools in research methodology in Europe, namely GESIS Summer School: Survey, Sampling and Weighting (August 17-21, 2020) in Cologne, Germany and Summer School Utrecht: Survey Research - Design, Implementation and Data Processing (August 15-19, 2022), Utrecht, Netherlands.
She gave an invited lecture in 2022 in the USA entitled "Child Centered Parenting in the Digital Age" organized by the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.
So far, she has presented independently or as a co-author at numerous conferences with international review (UK, Greece, USA, etc.) and at several conferences with domestic review.
She won the award for the best work of a young author (Best Young Researcher Paper, 2023) of the journal Applied Psychology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad for the work The children's motivation for digital technology use: parents and children's perspective (authors: Varga, Vanesa and Kotrla Topić, Marina) .
She published a professional monograph Primošten: Our Lady of Loreto, which was published by the Municipality of Primošten in 2017.
She has two training certificates from the Algebra Open University, one as an Internet Marketing Specialist from 2017 and one as a Web Designer from 2018.
She uses the IBM SPSS software program. She has used the M++ and S++ databases. She has used Google Ads and Google Analytics Solutions software. She has managed social media and websites for companies and scientific projects. In her scientific work, she has applied methods of interviews, focus groups, surveys, diary studies and observations. Research interests include media effects and the Internet.
Published papers recorded in the Croatian Scientific Bibliography Database
Campus Cinema: University Portrayals in Contemporary Films
Presentation of the results of the project "Digital technology in the family: patterns of behavior and effects on child development"
The influence of authorship information on the perception of graphic media messages
Perspektiva djece u Hrvatskoj o materijalizmu i vrijednostima koje su važnije od materijalizma
Characteristics of smartphone use and bullying behaviors among children in Croatia
Peer-Influenced Purchases: An Exploration of Consumer Trends Among Adolescents in Croatia
Conflicts about adolescents’ smartphone use between parents and adolescents: frequency, gender differences, and association with adolescent well-being
Mobile Phone Use in Interactions with Children and Parental Mediation: Opinions and Behaviors of Parents of Early Adolescents
Smartphone use and communication in Croatian families with adolescents
Longitudinal association among smartphone use, problem behaviors and well-being in Croatian adolescents
Communication about Purchase Desires between Children and Their Parents in Croatia
Technoference in Parent-Child Interactions: Approaches, Challenges, and Limitations of Measuring the Construct
Physical consequences of problematic smartphone use in adolescents: “Do they feel pain when they use their phones for a long time?"
Effects of parents’ smartphone use on children’s emotions, behavior, and subjective well-being
Presentation of the project "Family and individual plan for the use of digital media - interactive advisory website"
Daily patterns of smartphone use: an ESM study with Croatian children and youth
The relationship between the risk of smartphone addiction, technoference in parent-child interactions, and problem behaviours in children
#challengeaccepted - relationship between the motives for using and activities on smartphones and participation in virtual challenges among adolescents
Parental permissiveness, emotional regulation, smartphone use and technoference in the parent- child relationship
Child-Parent Communication on Child Purchase Wishes
Relationship between generalized problematic internet use, the quality of a parent-child relationship, and conflict over smartphone use in Croatian adolescents
The Association between Smartphone Use and Physical Health, Well-being, and School Success in Elementary School Children
Family communication and children’s problematic behaviours: Can technoference in parent-child interaction be a clamp?
Screen-based activities among children in Croatia: A media diary approach
„Što više markirane robe nosiš, to ćeš imati više prijatelja” – djeca u Hrvatskoj o materijalizmu
Presentation of the project "Family and individual plan for the use of digital media - interactive advisory website"
„Dosadne su i uskoče u bilo koji trenutak” – perspektiva djece u Hrvatskoj o reklamama
Povezanost korištenja pametnog telefona s problema u ponašanju i emocionalnim problemima kod adolescenata
Relationship between technology interference in parent-child interactions and problematic behaviors in children
The relationship of children's smartphone use with well-being and school achievement
Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives on the Effects of Children’s Digital Technology Use
Analysis of Tolerance in Six European Mediterranean Countries
Children’s motivation for digital technology use: parents and children’s perspective
Relationship between parental mediation and problematic Internet use in adolescents
Analysis of Tolerance in Six European Mediterranean Countries
Is my digital device bringing me down? The association of digital technology use in children and their daily mood
Parental smartphone use and child well-being
Child Centered Parenting in the Digital World
The Association of Smartphone use with Children's Well-being and School Achievement
I am ignored, and i feel angry! - children’s perception and experience of technoference in the parent-child relationship
Can I use it? No! - Parental mediation, the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship, and conflicts about adolescents’ smartphone use
"Digitalna tehnologija u obitelji: obrasci ponašanja i učinci na razvoj djece" - prikaz rezultata kvalitativnih istraživanja s djecom i roditeljima
Pregled istraživanja o povezanosti korištenja digitalne tehnologije i razvoja djece
The relationship of parental phubbing and child- parent conflict over smartphone with child well- being
Antropomorfizirane mačke na stranicama Facebooka
Digital Technology Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Relations to Sleep Quality and Life Satisfaction in Children and Parents
Stavovi korisnika stranica Facebooka udruga za zaštitu životinja o ulozi Facebooka u promociji prava i zaštite životinja
What Consequences of Children’s Digital Device Use Do Parents and Children See? – Focus Group Approach
Children’s motivation for digital media use
Roditeljska medijacija dječjeg korištenja digitalnih uređaja: „…ja ga uvijek moram od toga odmicati.“
Discourse Analysis of YouTube Vlogs Related to Croatian Islands
Use of digital devices among children - What do data from children's media diaries show us?
Parents’ and children’s perspective on rules for digital technology use in the family
The role of social media in promotion of animal rights and welfare
Rezultati online istraživanja "Mišljenje studenata o korištenju digitalne tehnologije"
Communication of Croatian football clubs on social media
Rezultati istraživanja "Korištenje digitalne tehnologije u obitelji" tijekom pandemije bolesti COVID-19
Semiotika putovanja na Instagramu
Distraction with digital technology in parents and the well-being of children and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic
Community management - a tool in public relations
Communication on the social network Facebook from the aspect of social media managers
Međuvršnjačko nasilje na društvenim mrežama
Student's attitudes towards the Instagram blogger profession
Customer trust in advertising cosmetics on YouTube
Reklame i rodni stereotipi: važnost medijske pismenosti
Izborne kampanje 2015. i 2016. godine: analiza obilježja naslova i toniranje vijesti na dnevnoinformativnim portalima
TripAdvisor User-generated Content about Croatian Islands
Virtualna groblja kao čuvari sjećanja na umrle
Primošten: Gospa od Loreta
Expressing emotion in business internet communication
Semiotic Analysis of ''Instagram Wanderers'': Self Reflecting Conquerors
Video games as an education tool
The role of new media technologies in helping people who suffer from social phobia
Facebook: The Good, the Bad or the Ugly?
Virtual Ancient Egyptian collections: Croato- Aegyptica Electronica and possibilities of development
List of select publications
Varga, Vanesa; Plenković, Mateja; Merkaš, Marina // Communication about Purchase Desires between Children and Their Parents in Croatia // Social sciences, 13 (2024), 97; 1-16
Varga, Vanesa; Žulec, Ana; Bodrožić Selak, Matea; Merkaš, Marina // The relationship of children's smartphone use with well-being and school achievement // Radovi Zavoda za znanstveni rad Varaždin, (2022), 33; 207-243. doi: 10.21857/yvjrdcv11y
Varga, Vanesa; Kotrla Topić, Marina // Children’s motivation for digital technology use: parents and children’s perspective // Primenjena psihologija, 15 (2022), 3; 305-326. doi: 10.19090/pp.v15i3.2378
List of select projects
Project leader Happiness is not in material things: the role of the media, parents and peers in shaping materialism in children (HKS-2023)
Project associate Digital technology in the family: patterns of behaviour and effects on child development (UIP-2019-04-7547)