Dr Louisa Donald

Lecturer in Psychology

I am a Chartered Psychologist within the British Psychological Society (BPS), with a particular interest in the Health and Developmental divisions.

I initially joined the University to study for the Health Psychology MSc, and eventually went on to complete a PhD within the Institute for Health Research.

My research background and teaching interests include eating behaviour, weight management, family relationships and atypical development, particularly within the context of socioeconomic inequality. I also have an interest in the growing area of Fashion Psychology, and art in Psychology more generally, and am keen to collaborate on research/teaching in this division.



  • PhD (2015-2020) – Institute for Health Research, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ.
  • MSc Health Psychology (2012-2013) – ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ.
  • BSc Psychology (2009-2012) (2.1) – University of Hertfordshire.

  • I am the unit coordinator for:
    • Foundations To Psychology (PSY001-1).
    • Applied Health Psychology And Public Health (PSY017-2).
    • Stress, Coping And Chronic Disease (PSY007-6).
  • I also support with teaching on various other undergraduate and postgraduate units within the school, including:
    • Psychology In Every Day Life (PSY004-1)
    • Atypical Child and Adolescent Development (PSY001-3)
    • Social Processes and Lifespan Development (PSY001-2)
    • Health and Wellbeing Psychology (PSY019-1)
    • Developmental Psychology (PSY058-6)
    • Lifestyle and Individual Differences (PSY003-6)
    • Health Psychology In Context (PSY005-6).

  • Family relationships, young parenthood, and father involvement, particularly within socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
  • Eating behaviour and body-image.
  • Weight management and physical activity.
  • Child development and atypical development, particularly within socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.

  • Supporting informal carers via an online dancing intervention: A feasibility/acceptability study.
  • Developing user-driven weight management programmes during the pandemic and beyond.

  • Donald, L., Lodder, A., Rogers, C., Cash, S., Pappis, Y., Randhawa, G. (2022). Talking Takes Off: A system-wide approach to prioritise children’s speech, language and communication needs. Progress in Community Health Partnerships (published online ahead of print 2022).
  • Donald, L., Davidson, R., Murphy, S., Hadley, A., Puthussery, S., & Randhawa, G. (2021). How young, disadvantaged fathers are affected by socioeconomic and relational barriers: A UK based qualitative study. Families, Relationships and Societies (published online ahead of print 2021).
  • Murphy, S., Joffe, V., Donald, L., Radley, J., Sunthararajah, S., Welch, C., Bell, K., Messer, D., Crafter, S., Fairhurst, C., Corbacho, B., Rodgers, S., & Torgerson, D. (2021). Evaluating ‘Enhancing Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication impairments’ (E-PLAYS): a feasibility cluster-randomised controlled trial. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 7(5), 1-18.
  • Murphy, S., Chowdhury, U., White, S.W., Reynolds, L., Donald, L., Gahan, H., Zeinab, I., Kulkarni, M., Scrivener, L., Shaker-Naeeni, H., & Press, D.A. (2017). Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Versus a Counselling Intervention for Anxiety in Young People with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47, 3446–3457.

Office: A218

University Square
Luton
LU1 3JU

T: +44 (0)1582 489386
Ext: 9386
E: louisa.donald@beds.ac.uk

telephone

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During office hours
(Monday-Friday 08:30-17:00)
+44 (0)1234 400 400

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+44 (0)1582 74 39 89

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