Contact information

Mailing Address: Institute for Population and Human Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
Department of Psychology
1113 Sofia, BULGARIA, “Acad. G. Bonchev” Str., Block 6, floor 5/6
Phone: +359 2 979 30 43
E-mails: annaalexandrova@yahoo.com, anna.alexandrova-karamanova@iphs.eu

Research Interests

Health psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology:
• health and well-being, appearance and health, health behaviour, health behaviour motivation,
mental health, psychosocial determinants of health and health behaviours, disease prevention,
living with a disease, quality of life, personality and health, developmental characteristics of
adolescence and young adulthood, adolescent & young adults’ health, positive youth
development, stress and burnout, occupational health, health behaviour change and mental health
interventions

Education

– 2005-2009 – PhD student at the Institute of Psychology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Dissertation “Personality moderated media influence on body image in adolescents”, date of defense:
08.05.2013
– 1997-2002 – Master’s Degree in Psychology (5-year course of education), Sofia University “St.
Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
Specializations in: Clinical & counselling psychology; Developmental, school & cultural
psychology; Work & organizational psychology

Academic Positions

– 2020 – present Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, IPHS-BAS
– 2013 – 2020 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, IPHS-BAS

Research Projects (last 5 Years)

2022-2024 Funding Partner countries Principal investigator	Health and psychosocial long-term effects and coping resources in severe or critical COVID-19 survivors: a qualitative study Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) Slovakia, Croatia, Romania Assoc. Prof. A. Alexandrova-Karamanova, PhD
2021-2024 Funding Partner countries Principal investigator	Adolescent health and well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: Effects on mental health, health behaviour, social interactions, and academic motivation and achievement, moderated by personality characteristics Bulgarian National Science Fund National study Assoc. Prof. A. Alexandrova-Karamanova, PhD
2019-2022 Funding Partner countries Principal investigator	Health and well-being of Bulgarian adolescents: analysis of trends in the 2006-2018 HBSC study nationally and internationally Budget funding 43 countries from Europe, Canada and the USA Assoc. Prof. A. Alexandrova-Karamanova, PhD
2017-2019 Funding Partner countries Principal investigator	Problems and trends in Bulgarian students’ health and risk attitudes and behaviour Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgaria 43 countries from Europe, Canada and the USA Assoc. Prof. Lidiya Vasileva, PhD
2016-2017 Funding Partner countries Principal investigator	Analysis of teachers’ attitudes and assessment of the quality of the learning environment – evaluation of the effectiveness of the joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science and UNICEF to promote inclusive education in kindergartens UNICEF – Bulgaria National study Assoc. Prof. M. Trifonova, PhD
2016-2017 Funding Principal investigator	Introducing a whole-school approach for early identification and prevention of bullying in 7 EU countries (Zippy’s Friends, Apple’s Friends, Fear-free Class) Animus Association Foundation Prof. R. Bozhinova, PhD

Selected Publications (10 in the last 10 Years)

1. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2022). Bullying and violence among adolescents in
Bulgaria: The impact of Positive Youth Development. Anthropological Researches and
Studies.
2. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2021). Pozitivno razvitie na mladite hora: efekti varhu
zdravnoto povedenie na yunoshite (Positive Youth Development: effects on adolescent health
behaviour). Bulgarian Journal of Psychology, 3(4), 35-43. (In Bulgarian).
3. Dimitrova, E., Kotzeva, T., & Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2020). Psychosocial school
environment and health risk behaviours of adolescents in Bulgaria: results from multilevel
analysis. International Journal of Public Health, 65(8), 1331–1344. DOI:10.1007/s00038-
020-01482-4.
4. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2020). Appearance self-attitudes and health and well-being
of Bulgarian adolescents. Central European Journal of Paediatrics, 16(1), 69-82. DOI:
10.5457/p2005-114.71.
5. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2019). Vanshniyat vid pri mladite hora: mezhdu zdraveto i
uspeha (Appearance in young people: between health and success). Sofia: DioMira, 587 p.
ISBN: 978-954-2977-60-5 (print), 978-954-2977-61-2 (pdf). (In Bulgarian).
6. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2018). Motivi za svarzani s vanshniya vid povdeniya pri
mladi mazhe s razlichen status na telesnoto teglo: kachestveno izsledvane. (Motives for
appearance-related behaviours in young men with different weight statuses: a qualitative
study). Psychological Thought, 11(2), 75-93. DOI: 10.5964/psyct.v11i2.269. (In Bulgarian).
7. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A. (2017). Upotreba na elektronni medii I zdrave I
blagopoluchie na yunoshite (E-media use and health & well-being of adolescents).
Psychological Research, 20(3), 481-495. (In Bulgarian).
8. Alexandrova-Karamanova, A., Todorova, I., Montgomery, A., Panagopoulou, E., Costa, P.,
Baban, A., Davas, A., Milosevic, M., Mijakoski, D. (2016). Burnout and health behaviors in
health professionals from seven European countries. International Archives of Occupational
and Environmental Health, 89(7), 1059-1075. DOI: 10.1007/s00420-016-1143-5.
9. Arensman, E., Koburger, N., Larkin, C., Karwig, G., Coffey, C., Maxwell, M., Harris, F.,
Rummel-Kluge, C., van Audenhove, C., Sisask, M., Alexandrova-Karamanova, A., Perez,
V., Purebl, G., Cebria, A., Palao, D., Costa, S., Coppens, E., Mark, L., Ditta Toth, M.,
Gecheva, M., Ibelshauser, A., Gusmao, R., Hegerl, U. (2015). Depression awareness and selfmanagement through the internet: An internationally standardised approach. JMIR Research
Protocols, 4(3), e99. DOI: 10.2196/resprot.4358.
10. Todorova, I., Alexandrova-Karamanova, A., Panayotova, Y., Dimitrova, E., & Kotzeva, T.
(2014). Managing uncertainty: Healthcare professionals’ meanings regarding the HPV
vaccine. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 21, 29-36. DOI: 10.1007/s12529-013-
9343-9.