Dr Carolyn Plateau

Carolyn is a Reader in Applied Psychology. She graduated from the University of Oxford with an MA in Experimental Psychology in 2009. She moved to 含羞草视频 to complete an MRes (2010) and PhD (2015) in Psychology. Carolyn joined 含羞草视频 as a Lecturer in Psychology in 2015 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2020, and Reader in 2024. She lectures on the Psychology undergraduate degree programmes where she teaches on modules relating to addictive behaviours and the psychology of eating behaviour.

Carolyn supervises undergraduate and postgraduate (MSc and PhD) students’ research projects in the areas of athlete mental health, wellbeing and eating behaviour. Carolyn is the Associate Director for Postgraduate taught studies in the School.

Carolyn’s research focuses on mental health and wellbeing in young people, and specifically in athlete populations. She has particular expertise in disordered eating in athletes (e.g., identifying risk factors for, and trajectories of, disordered eating in athletes) and in developing effective tools to support coach and sport practitioners in identifying and managing eating problems in athlete populations. Carolyn’s research to date has focused on unhealthy (compulsive) exercise, teammate influences, psychoeducation and intervention development, and factors affecting psychological wellbeing and mental health in a variety of elite and developing athlete populations. Her research has been funded by a wide range of partners (e.g., UK Sport, British Wheelchair Basketball, World Anti-Doping Agency, Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms).

Carolyn’s research interests include:

• Understand the risk factors for, and trajectories of disordered eating
• The link between unhealthy exercise and disordered eating practices
• Coach, athlete and parent interactions in the context of disordered eating
• Teammate, friend and peer influences on eating and exercise behaviours
• The development of effective tools to support early identification and appropriate management of disordered eating (e.g., for coaches, sports professionals, parents and athletes).
• Athlete mental health and wellbeing
• Technology, eating and exercise behaviour (e.g., fitness tracking devices).

Carolyn is proactive in ensuring that her research is shared with people who will benefit. She has received funding from MICRA (Midlands Innovation Commercialisation of Research Accelerator) to develop a new, evidence based CPD course for coaches and sports professionals to learn more about disordered eating and eating disorders in sport. For more information, please visit www.deia.org.uk or contact Carolyn directly (C.R.Plateau@lboro.ac.uk). The course is accredited by CPD-UK and the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity.

Recent external activities of note include:

• Academic Advisory Board Member and Course Contributor: International Olympic Committee Diploma in Mental Health and Elite Sport.
• Invited expert speaker: BBC Sounds Sports Desk Podcast. Eating Disorders in Women’s Football. (Jan 2023).
• Invited lead on podcast series: NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit: Body image, weight management and disordered eating in sport. (Sept 2021).
• Invited podcast: 含羞草视频 Experts in Sport, episode 21. Disordered eating in athletes. (2020).
• Invited expert and lead on mini-content series: UK Coaching. Disordered Eating in Sport. (2022)
• Invited expert review and discussant: Mind Charity mental health in physical activity toolkit and webinar (2021).
• External examiner for UK and international PhD students.
• External examiner for BSc and MSc Psychology courses (Coventry University; Plymouth Marjon University).
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2016 to present).
• Editorial board member for Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention
• Regular reviewer for a wide range of academic journals including: Appetite, European Eating Disorders Review, international Journal of Eating Disorders, Eating Behaviors, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Journal of Sport Sciences, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.
• Invited Guest Editor: Competing and Working in Performance Sport: A Special Issue on Mental Well-Being (The Sport Psychologist). Co-Editors: Dr Catherine Sabiston & Dr Peter Olusoga.
• Contributor to television, radio and online media including BBC East Midlands, BBC Radio Leicester, and The Conversation.

• King, A.M., Plateau, C.R., Turner, M., Young, P., & Barker, J.B. (in press, July 2024). A systematic review of the nature and efficacy of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy interventions.
• Reynolds, K.A., Haycraft, E., & Plateau, C.R. (in press, June 2024). Use and consequences of exercise tracking technology on exercise psychopathology and mental health outcomes in adolescents.
• Reynolds, K., A., Haycraft, E., & Plateau, C.R. (in press, June 2024). Development and psychometric assessment of the Sociocultural Influences on Exercise Behaviours in Adolescents Questionnaire.
• Blagrove, R.C., Brooke-Wavell, K., Plateau, C.R., Nahman, C., Hassan, A., & Stellingwerff, T. (in press, June 2024). The role of musculoskeletal training during return to performance following Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport.