Publications
2026
Vargas, I., Dickens, H.*, & Assar, A.*, (In Press). From Better Sleep to Improved Mood: A Review of the Biological, Behavioral, and Cognitive Pathways for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia’s Antidepressant Effects. Current Sleep Medicine Reports. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-026-00376-w.
Walker, J.* Campbell, R., Bridges, A., Acosta, C., Ellis, J., Perlis, M.L., & Vargas, I. (In Press). One-Session Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Integrated Primary Care: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Sleep Research. https://doi-org.proxy.library.nd.edu/10.1111/jsr.70324.
Shuman, J., Sheikh, S.S., Vargas, I., & Robison, M. (In Press). Relations among sleep, internalizing symptoms, and academic performance in college students. Behavioral Sleep Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2026.2628676.
Boyle, J., Morales, K., Vargas, I., Muench, A., Posner, D., Grandner, M., Seewald, M., Scott, H., Ellis, J., & Perlis. M.L. (In Press). The natural history of insomnia: Sleep opportunity extension following a poor night of sleep is not related to the transition from acute to chronic insomnia. Journal of Sleep Research. http://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.
Campbell, R.L.*, Thompson, L., Williams, P., Assar, A.*, Gournay, L.R.*, Nguyen, A.*, Gupta, N., Vargas, I., & Leen-Feldner, E.W. (In Press). Reappraising Negative Situations After a Night of Sleep Deprivation. Behaviour Research and Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2026.104958.
Assar, A. *, Walker, J. *, Egeler, M. *, Floyd, V. *, Dickens, H. *, & Vargas, I. (In Press). Estimating Public Knowledge About Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) and Alternative Treatments. Behavioral Sleep Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2025.2610674.
Dickens, H.*, Gournay-Berman, L. R., Hill, M., Joslin, M. D. M., Walker, J. *, Makhanova, A., Leen-Feldner, E., & Vargas, I. (In Press). Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis Stress Response to a Laboratory-Based 10% CO2 Challenge in Healthy Adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107712.
Assar, A.*, Lueke, N. A., Lueke, A., & Vargas, I. (2026). Self-compassion’s impact on perceived stress and perseverative thinking as it relates to sleep quality among college students. Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053251403612.
2025
Aggarwal, B., Gao, Y., Alfini, A., Azarbarzin, A., Anafi, R., Baron, K.G., Bautch, V.L., … Vargas, I., Grandner, M.A., & Lloyd-Jones, D. (In Press). Mechanisms, Implications, and Applications of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in Cardiovascular Resilience: Developing A Roadmap. Nature Reviews Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-025-01188-1.
Vargas, I., Wier, O.M.†, Vance, A.H.†, & Haeffel, G.J. (2025). Development and Validation of an Abbreviated Form of the Cognitive Style Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-025-10587-0.
Vengurlekar, I.N.*, Thudi, K.†, & Vargas, I. (2025). Mindful scrolling: Exploring whether mindfulness modifies the association between social media engagement and internalizing concerns. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07490-y.
2024
Floyd, V.*, & Vargas, I. (2024). Evaluating a mobile application based intervention for insomnia in college students: a preliminary study. Journal of American College Health, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2024.2423225.
Daniels, B. T., Robinson, S., Vargas, I., Baum, J. I., & Howie, E. K. (2024). Changes in physical activity and sleep following the COVID-19 pandemic on a university campus: Perception versus reality. Sports medicine and health science, 6(3), 246–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smhs.2024.04.003
Boyle, J. T., Morales, K. H., Muench, A., Ellis, J., Vargas, I., Grandner, M. A., Posner, D., & Perlis, M. L. (2024). The natural history of insomnia: evaluating illness severity from acute to chronic insomnia; is the first the worst?. Sleep, 47(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsae034
Haeffel, G. J., Lin, Z., Adetula, A., Vargas, I., Doom, J. R., Moriguchi, Y., Bridges, A. J., & Cobb, W. R. (2024). Psychology needs more diversity at the level of Editor-in-Chief. Communications psychology, 2(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-024-00058-9
2023
Harra, R. C., & Vargas, I. (2023). A peer-based mentoring program for reducing anxiety and depression symptoms among college students: A preliminary study. Journal of American college health : J of ACH, 1–8. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2023.2172580
Muench, A., Boyle, J.T., Upton, C., Reddy, V., Thompson, M., Perlis, M.L., & Vargas., I. (2023). COVID- 19 and Fatigue: Does Fatigue Persist Beyond Diagnosis? Sleep, 44(supplement 1), A251. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac079.566
Boyle, J. T., Rosenfield, B., Di Tomasso, R. A., Moye, J., Bamonti, P. M., Grandner, M., Vargas, I., & Perlis, M. (2023). Sleep Continuity, Sleep Related Daytime Dysfunction, and Problem Endorsement: Do These Vary Concordantly by Age? Behavioral sleep medicine, 21(4), 436–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022.2124994
Vargas I. (2023). Scaling up sleep education and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia training across multiple health disciplines. Sleep, 46(10), zsad204. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad204
Vargas, I., Egeler, M., Walker, J., & Benitez, D. D. (2023). Examining the barriers and recommendations for integrating more equitable insomnia treatment options in primary care. Frontiers in sleep, 2, 1279903. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsle.2023.1279903
Vargas, I., Muench, A., Grandner, M. A., Irwin, M. R., & Perlis, M. L. (2023). Insomnia symptoms predict longer COVID-19 symptom duration. Sleep medicine, 101, 365–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.11.019
2022
Walker, J. L., Vargas, I., Drake, C. L., Ellis, J. G., Muench, A., & Perlis, M. L. (2022). The natural history of insomnia: high sleep reactivity interacts with greater life stress to predict the onset of acute insomnia. Sleep, 45(9), zsac149. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac149
Walker, J., Muench, A., Perlis, M. L., & Vargas, I. (2022). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I): A Primer. Klinicheskaia i spetsial'naia psikhologiia = Clinical psychology and special education, 11(2), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2022110208
Vargas, I., Walker, J.*, Egeler, M.*, Jean-Louis, G, & Seixas, A. (2022). Insomnia and Physical Health:
The Role of Health Disparities in Defining Risk. In Taft, Di Piazza, & Carolyn (Ed.), Reference Module in
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822963-7.00308-X
Muench, A.M., Vargas, I., Grandner, M., Ellis, J., Posner, D., Bastien, C., Drummond, S., & Perlis, M.L.
(2022). We Know CBT-I Works, Now What? Faculty Reviews, 11:4. https://doi.org/10.12703/r/11-4.
Haeffel, G. J., Jeronimus, B. F., Fisher, A. J., Kaiser, B. N., Weaver, L. J., Vargas, I., … Lu, W. (2022).
HiTOP Is Not an Improvement Over the DSM. Clinical Psychological Science.
https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026211068873.
2021
Vargas, I., Howie, E., Muench, A., & Perlis, M.L. (2021). Measuring the Effects of Social Distancing on
Depressive Symptoms During COVID-19: The Moderating Role of Sleep and Physical Activity. Brain
Sciences, 11(11), 1449. doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11111449. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11111449
Muench, A., Vargas, I., Posner, D., & Perlis, M.L. (2021). Standard CBT-I: When is the adaptation of
CBT-I warranted? In Nowakowski, Garland, Grandner, & Cuddihy (Ed.), Adapting Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy for Insomnia, 1st edition.
Perlis, M. L., Morales, K. H., Vargas, I., Muench, A., Seewald, M., Gooneratne, N., … Ader, R. (2021).
Durability of treatment response to zolpidem using a partial reinforcement regimen: does this strategy
require priming? Sleep Medicine, 87, 56–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.04.041.
Perlis, M. L., Morales, K. H., Vargas, I., Posner, D. A., Grandner, M. A., Muench, A. L., … Ellis, J. G.
(2021). The natural history of insomnia: Does sleep extension differentiate between those that do and
do not develop chronic insomnia? Journal of Sleep Research, 30(5), 1–9.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13342.
Boyle, J. T., Vargas, I., Rosenfield, B., Grandner, M. A., & Perlis, M. L. (2021). Insomnia Severity and
Degree of Dysfunction: What Is to Be Learned When These Domains are Discordant? Behavioral Sleep
Medicine, 00(00), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2021.1895794.
Haeffel, G. J., Jeronimus, B. F., Kaiser, B. N., Weaver, L. J., Soyster, P. D., Fisher, A. J., … Lu, W. (2021).
Folk Classification and Factor Rotations: Whales, Sharks, and the Problems With the Hierarchical
Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). Clinical Psychological Science.
https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026211002500.
Perlis, M.L., Vargas, I., Grandner, M., Bastien, C., & Posner, D. (2021). The Assessment of Insomnia.
In Kryger (Ed.), Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, 7th edition. Elsevier.
Kuhlman, K. R., Mayer, S. E., Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2021). Early life stress sensitizes youth
to the influence ofstress-induced cortisol on memory for affective words. Developmental Psychobiology,
63(5), 1597–1605. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22105.
2020
Vargas, I., Nguyen, A.M.*, Haeffel, G. J., & Drake, C. L. (2020). A negative cognitive style is associated
with greater insomnia and depression symptoms: The mediating role of sleep reactivity. Journal of
Affective Disorders Reports, 1, 100010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2020.100010.
Gorman, E. L., Burke, H. H., Rubino, L. G., Vargas, I., & Haeffel, G. (2020). Teasing Apart the Effect of
Depression Specific and Anxiety Specific Symptoms on Academic Outcomes. Clinical Psychology and
Special Education, 9(3), 91–104. https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2020090307.
Vargas, I., Nguyen, A.M.*, Muench, A., Bastien, C. H., Ellis, J. G., & Perlis, M. L. (2020). Acute and
chronic insomnia: What has time and/or hyperarousal got to do with it? Brain Sciences, 10(2), 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10020071.
Vargas, I., Haeffel, G. J., Jacobucci, R., Boyle, J. T., Mayer, S. E., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2020). Negative
Cognitive Style and Cortisol Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor: a Preliminary Study. International Journal
of Cognitive Therapy, 13(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-019-00052-8.
Perlis, M. L., Vargas, I., Ellis, J. G., Grandner, M. A., Morales, K. H., Gencarelli, A., … Thase, M. E.
(2020). The natural history of Insomnia: The incidence of acute insomnia and subsequent progression to
chronic insomnia or recovery in good sleeper subjects. Sleep, 43(6), 1–8.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsz299.
Vargas, I., & Perlis, M. L. (2020). Insomnia and depression: clinical associations and possible
mechanistic links. Current Opinion in Psychology, 34, 95–99.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.11.004.
Vargas, I., Perlis, M. L., Grandner, M., Gencarelli, A., Khader, W., Zandberg, L. J., … Thase, M. E. (2020).
Insomnia Symptoms and Suicide-Related Ideation in U.S. Army Service Members. Behavioral Sleep
Medicine, 18(6), 820–836. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2019.1693373
2019
Vargas, I., Payne, J. D., Muench, A., Kuhlman, K. R., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2019). Acute sleep deprivation and the selective consolidation of emotional memories. Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), 26(6), 176–181. https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.049312.119
Vargas I., Garland, S., Kloss, J.D. & Perlis, M.L. (2019). Insomnia and Psychiatric Disorders. In Grandner
(Ed.), Sleep and Health. Elsevier.
Garland, S., Vargas I., Grandner M., & Perlis, M.L. (2019). Insomnia – Behavioral Treatments. In
Chopra, Das, & Doghramji (Eds.), Management of Sleep Disorders in Psychiatry. New York, NY: Oxford
University Press USA.
2018
Vargas, I., Vgontzas, A. N., Abelson, J. L., Faghih, R. T., Morales, K. H., & Perlis, M. L. (2018). Altered
ultradian cortisol rhythmicity as a potential neurobiologic substrate for chronic insomnia. Sleep Medicine
Reviews, 41, 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2018.03.003
Garland, S., Vargas I., Grandner M., & Perlis, M.L. (2018). Treating Insomnia in Patients with
Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders: A Focused Review. Canadian Psychology, 59(2), 176-186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cap0000141
2017
Vargas, I. & Lopez-Duran, N.L. (2017). The cortisol awakening response (CAR) aftersleep deprivation:
is CAR a “response” to awakening or a circadian process? Journal of Health Psychology, 1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317738323
Vargas, I., Drake, C.L., & Lopez-Duran, N.L. (2017). Insomnia symptom severity modulatesthe impact
of sleep deprivation on attentional biases to emotional information. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1-
11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-017-9859-4
Kuhlman, K.R., Geiss, E.G., Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N.L. (2017). HPA-axis activation as a key
moderator of childhood trauma exposure and adolescent mental health. Journal of Abnormal Child
Psychology, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-017-0282-9
Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N.L. (2017). Investigating the effect of acute sleep deprivation on
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis response to a psychosocial stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 79,
1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.01.030
2016
Shull, A., Mayer, S. E., McGinnis, E., Geiss, E., Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2016). Trait and state rumination interact to prolong cortisol activation to psychosocial stress in females. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 74, 324–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.09.004
Vargas, I., Mayer, S., & Lopez-Duran, N. (2017). The Cortisol Awakening Response and Depressive Symptomatology: The Moderating Role of Sleep and Gender. Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress, 33(3), 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2691
2015
Kuhlman, K. R., Vargas, I., Geiss, E. G., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2015). Age of Trauma Onset and HPA Axis Dysregulation Among Trauma-Exposed Youth. Journal of traumatic stress, 28(6), 572–579. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22054
Lopez-Duran, N. L., McGinnis, E., Kuhlman, K., Geiss, E., Vargas, I., & Mayer, S. (2015). HPA-axis stress reactivity in youth depression: evidence of impaired regulatory processes in depressed boys. Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 18(5), 545–553. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2015.1053455
Kuhlman, K. R., Geiss, E. G., Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2015). Differential associations between childhood trauma subtypes and adolescent HPA-axis functioning. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 54, 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.01.020
Vargas, I., Friedman, N. P., & Drake, C. L. (2015). Vulnerability to Stress-Related Sleep Disturbance and Insomnia: Investigating the Link with Comorbid Depressive Symptoms. Translational issues in psychological science, 1(1), 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000015
2014
Simoncic, T. E., Kuhlman, K. R., Vargas, I., Houchins, S., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2014). Facebook use and depressive symptomatology: Investigating the role of neuroticism and extraversion in youth. Computers in human behavior, 40, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.07.039
Drake, C. L., Vargas, I., Roth, T., & Friedman, N. P. (2015). Quantitative measures of nocturnal insomnia symptoms predict greater deficits across multiple daytime impairment domains. Behavioral sleep medicine, 13(1), 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2014.880345
Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N. (2014). Dissecting the impact of sleep and stress on the cortisol awakening response in young adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 40, 10–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.10.009
2011
Haeffel, G. J., & Vargas, I. (2011). Resilience to depressive symptoms: The buffering effects of enhancing cognitive style and positive life events. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 42(1), 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.09.003