Professional Summary
Christian C. Garcia, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College and a researcher affiliated with UC Health - UC Addiction Center. His research examines the intersection of alcohol use, aging, and cognitive health, with a focus on identifying modifiable behavioral and psychosocial factors that contribute to risky drinking and related health outcomes. His work uses diverse methodologies and experimental approaches to better understand alcohol-related behaviors in adults across the lifespan. Dr. Garcia is also committed to teaching and mentoring undergraduate students and developing research opportunities that integrate students into the scientific process. He currently teaches courses in Introduction to Psychology and Psychobiology.
Education
A.A.: Miami Dade College - The Honors College Miami, FL, 2014
B.S. : University of Florida Gainesville, FL, 2016 (Psychology; Family, Youth, and Community Sciences)
M.S. : University of Florida Gainesville, FL, 2018 (Psychology)
Ph.D.: University of Florida Gainesville, FL, 2022 (Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience)
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Merrill, Jennifer E; Peterson, Roselyn; Garcia, Christian C; Howe, Lindy K; Carey, Kate B; Barnett, Nancy P; Jackson, Kristina M; Miller, Mary Beth (2026). Protective behavioral strategies and planned drinking relate to high intensity drinking and consequences at the day level. Addictive behaviors, 175, 108591More Information
Richards, Dylan K; Grubbs, Joshua B; Garcia, Christian C; Pearson, Matthew R; Field, Craig A (2026). Associations of psychological needs with alcohol use and related outcomes. Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 40 (2) , 176-188More Information
Nixon, Sara Jo; Torres, Samuel A; Boissoneault, Jeff; Garcia, Christian C; Lewis, Ben (2025). Neurobehavioral concomitants of alcohol use in older healthy adults. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 19, 1693330More Information
Garcia, Christian C; Richards, Dylan K; Tuchman, Felicia R; Hallgren, Kevin A; Kranzler, Henry R; Aubin, Henri-Jean; O'Malley, Stephanie S; Mann, Karl; Aldridge, Arnie; Hoffman, Michaela; Anton, Raymond F; Witkiewitz, Katie (2024). Reductions in World Health Organization risk drinking level are associated with improvements in sleep problems among individuals with alcohol use disorder. Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 59 (3) More Information
Witkiewitz, Katie; Garcia, Christian C; Muthén, Bengt O (2024). Subjective stress and any drinking during alcohol treatment: Disentangling within and between person autoregressive effects. Neurobiology of stress, 29, 100602More Information
Nixon, Sara Jo; Garcia, Christian C; Lewis, Ben (2023). Women's use of alcohol: Neurobiobehavioral concomitants and consequences. Frontiers in neuroendocrinology, 70, 101079More Information
Nixon, Sara Jo; Garcia, Christian C; Lewis, Ben (2023). Age as a potential modulator of alcohol-related deficits. Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), 107, 12-18More Information
Garcia, Christian C; Lewis, Ben; Nixon, Sara Jo (2022). Racially invariant stimuli may bias outcomes in assessment of emotion processing. Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 36 (5) , 499-504More Information
Lewis, Ben; Garcia, Christian C; Price, Julianne L; Schweizer, Susanne; Nixon, Sara Jo (2022). Cognitive training in recently-abstinent individuals with alcohol use disorder improves emotional stroop performance: Evidence from a randomized pilot trial. Drug and alcohol dependence, 231, 109239More Information
Lewis, Ben; Price, Julianne L; Garcia, Christian C; Ebner, Natalie C; Nixon, Sara Jo (2021). The impact of emotional face stimuli on working memory performance among men and women with alcohol use disorder. Addictive behaviors, 114, 106731More Information
Lewis, Ben; Garcia, Christian C; Bohan, Riley; Nixon, Sara Jo (2020). Impact of polysubstance use on social and non-affective cognitive performance among treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorders. Addictive behaviors, 106, 106359More Information
Garcia, Christian C; Lewis, Ben; Boissoneault, Jeff; Nixon, Sara Jo (2020). Effects of Age and Acute Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Electrophysiological Indices of Attention. Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 81 (3) , 372-383More Information
Lewis, Ben; Price, Julianne L; Garcia, Christian C; Nixon, Sara Jo (2019). Emotional Face Processing among Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders: Investigating Sex Differences and Relationships with Interpersonal Functioning. Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 54 (4) , 361-369More Information
Lewis, Ben; Garcia, Christian C; Boissoneault, Jeff; Price, Julianne L; Nixon, Sara Jo (2019). Working Memory Performance Following Acute Alcohol: Replication and Extension of Dose by Age Interactions. Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 80 (1) , 86-95More Information
Lewis, Ben; Garcia, Christian C; Nixon, Sara Jo (2018). Drinking patterns and adherence to "low-risk" guidelines among community-residing older adults. Drug and alcohol dependence, 187, 285-291More Information
Lewis, Ben; Hoffman, Lauren; Garcia, Christian C; Nixon, Sara Jo (2018). Race and socioeconomic status in substance use progression and treatment entry. Journal of ethnicity in substance abuse, 17 (2) , 150-166More Information
Post Graduate Training and Education
08-2022-07-2023 Postdoctoral Associate, Center for Addiction Research & Education (CARE), University of Florida, , Gainesville, FL.
07-2023-07-2024 Postdoctoral Fellow (5T32AA018108-14), Center on Alcohol, Substance Use & Addictions (CASAA), University of New Mexico, , Albuquerque, NM
08-2024-07-2026 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Graduate College, University of Cincinnati, , Cincinnati, OH
Contact Information
garcicc@ucmail.uc.edu