Sandra El Aridi

Applied Developmental Psychology: Psychopathology, mental health outcomes, and educational outcomes among first- and second-generation immigrants, especially those in the special education system, with a focus on primarily Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) culture.

Sandra is a second-year master's student in the ADP program. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in gender, women, and sexuality studies with a particular interest in clinical psychology. Before joining GMU, she spent a year as a research assistant at the Health and Discrimination Lab at VCU studying healthcare physician intergroup bias toward Black patients and developing theory-driven interventions to reduce health disparities and inequalities and improve the type of care received. Sandra’s current research interests focus on psychopathology, mental health outcomes, and educational outcomes among first- and second-generation immigrants, especially those in the special education system, with a focus on primarily Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) culture.

Recent Presentations

April 2025 “Suicidality among Youth: Intersectionality between Sexual Orientation and Race/Ethnicity,” Suicide Research Symposium (presented)