Dr Carolyn Plateau

Carolyn is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology. She graduated from the University of Oxford with an MA in Experimental Psychology in 2009. She moved to Loughborough to complete an MRes (2010) and PhD (2015) in Psychology. Carolyn joined Loughborough University as a Lecturer in Psychology in 2015 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2020. She lectures on the Psychology undergraduate degree programmes where she teaches on modules relating to personality and individual differences and the psychology of eating behaviour.

Carolyn supervises undergraduate and postgraduate (MSc and PhD) students’ research projects. She is currently an admissions tutor for the BSc Psychology degree programme and has previously been a member of the School Athena SWAN working group.

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.

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.

• Invited contributor to the International Olympic Committee Diploma in Athlete Mental Health.
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2016 to present).
• 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.  
• Editorial board member for Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention
• External examiner (PhD)
• Contributor to television, radio and online media including BBC East Midlands, BBC Radio Leicester, The Conversation, Experts in Sport podcast, and the International Olympic Committee.

Have a listen to Carolyn’s recent appearance on the Loughborough University’s Experts in Sport podcast, titled 'Disordered eating - just how common is it in elite level sport?'

Carolyn has authored over 25 journal articles and book chapters. Recent examples include:

• Scott, C., Haycraft, E., & Plateau, C.R. (2021). The influence of social networks within sports teams on athletes’ eating and exercise psychopathology: A longitudinal study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 52, 101786.
• Stevinson, C.D., Plateau, C.R., Plunkett, S., Fitzpatrick, E.J., Ojo, M., & Clemes, S.A. (2020). Adherence and health-related outcomes of beginner running programs: a 10-week observational study. Research Quarterly For Exercise and Sport. Doi: 10.1080/02701367.2020.1799916
• Scott, C., Plateau, C.R., & Haycraft, E. (2020). Teammate influences, psychological wellbeing and athletes’ eating and exercise psychopathology: A moderated mediation analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53 (4), 564-573.
• Sandgren, S., Haycraft, E., & Plateau C.R. (2020). Nature and efficacy of interventions addressing eating psychopathology in athletes: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised trials. European Eating Disorders Review, 28(2), 105-121. 
• Scott, C., Haycraft, E., & Plateau, C.R. (2019). Teammate influences and relationship quality are associated with eating and exercise psychopathology in athletes. Appetite, 143, 104404.  
• Scott, C., Haycraft, E., & Plateau, C.R. (2019). Teammate influences on the eating attitudes and behaviours of athletes: A systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 43, 183-194.  Doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.02.006
• Nahman, C., Plateau, C.R., & Moorhouse, A. (2019). Eating disorders in swimmers. In: Ten Cases in Sports Psychiatry. (Eds. A. Mistry & T. McCabe). Cambridge University Press.
• Plateau, C.R., Bone, S., Lanning, E., & Meyer, C. (2018). Monitoring eating and activity: Links with disordered eating, compulsive exercise and general wellbeing among young adults. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 51(11), 1270-1276.  Doi: 10.1002/eat.22966.
• Papathomas, A., White, H.J., & Plateau, C.R. (2018). Young people, social media and disordered eating. In: Young people, social media and health. (Eds. V. Goodyear & K. Armour). Routledge.
• Plateau, C.R., & Arcelus, J. (2017). Chapter 27: Eating Disorders in Athletes: Detection, diagnosis and treatment. In: The Handbook of Complex and Atypical Eating Disorders (Eds. L. Anderson & S. Murray).  Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Meyer, C., & Plateau, C.R. (2016). Compulsive Exercise In: Encyclopaedia of Feeding and Eating Disorders. (Ed. T. Wade). Springer Singapore. Doi: 10.1007/978-981-287-087-2_171-1
• Currie A., Arcelus, J., & Plateau, C.R. (2016). Chapter 4: Eating Disorders in Athletes.  In: Sports Psychiatry Handbook (Eds. A. Currie & B. Owen). Oxford: OUP. 

Carolyn’s online CPD course for coaches and sports professionals around disordered eating in sport is now available. This is ideal for professionals wishing to find out more about identifying and supporting athletes who present with disordered eating. Please visit the Disordered Eating in Athletes website for more information or contact Carolyn directly.