Elizabeth Cotter

Elizabeth Cotter

Elizabeth Cotter

Assistant Professor

Dr. Elizabeth Cotter is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Studies at American University and the Director of the Behavioral Health and Well-Being Lab. She is a licensed psychologist with research interests related to: 1) the prevention and treatment of disordered eating; and 2) mindfulness-based approaches to improving health behaviors. Her research lab is currently examining how parent mindfulness might influence parents' eating and feeding behaviors. 

Dr. Cotter earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and received her BA in Psychology from Michigan State University.

Recent Book Chapters:
Cotter, E. W. & Kelly, N. R. (2015). The Binge Eating Scale. In T. Wade (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Eating and Feeding Disorders. Springer.

Lydecker, J. A., Cotter, E. W., Kelly, N. R., Gow, R. W., & Mazzeo, S. E. (2013). Preventing childhood obesity. In L. H. Choate (Ed.). Eating Disorders and Obesity: A Counselors Guide to Prevention and Treatment. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association Press.

Recent Publications:

Kelly, N. R., Cotter, E. W., Guidinger, C., & Williams, G. (2020). Perceived discrimination, emotion dysregulation and loss of control eating in young men. Eating Behaviors, 37, 101387.

Cotter, E. W., Hornack, S. E., Fotang, J. P., Pettit, E., & Mirza, N. M. (2020). A pilot open-label feasibility trial examining an adjunctive mindfulness intervention for adolescents with obesity. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 6, 1-11.

Cotter, E. W. & Jones, N. (2020). A review of mindfulness interventions with Latinx participants. Mindfulness, 11, 529 – 553.

Lydecker, J. A., Cotter, E. W., & Grilo, C. M. (2019). Associations of Weight Bias with Disordered Eating among Latino and White Men. Obesity, 27, 1982-1987.  

Kelly, N. R.; Cotter, E. W.; & Guidinger, C. (2018). Men who engage in both objective and subjective binge eating have the highest psychological and medical comorbidities. Eating Behaviors, 30, 115 - 119.

Cotter, E. W. & Kelly, N. R. (2018). Stress-related eating, mindfulness, and obesity. Health Psychology, 37, 516 - 525.

Learn more about our accomplished Master of Science in Nutrition Education faculty members. Call 855-725-7614 to speak to one of our admissions representatives or request more information.