Research Interests

My research interests fall into three broad, overlapping categories:

1)  First, I am interested in cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors that may contribute to development of chronic pain/disability or facilitate positive adjustment following physical injury. Currently my work focuses on the role of perceptions of injustice regarding one’s pain, injury, or circumstance. I am especially interested in the intersection of injustice perceptions with larger societal inequities, such as discrimination.

2)  Second, I am interested in how we understand the pain and suffering of others, and in particular whether individuals (e.g., healthcare providers) may make decisions based on unconscious bias regarding patient characteristics, such as gender, weight, or race.

3)  Finally, my work applies emerging virtual technologies to pressing issues in chronic pain, disability, and rehabilitation, including the above issues. My currently funded research employs a “virtual walking” paradigm to alleviate chronic neuropathic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury. We are also using haptic virtual reality to restore touch perception among individuals with ‘discomplete’ SCI. These are Department of Defense-funded
international and multisite projects.

Recent Publications

* Graduate student at time of publication; ** Undergraduate student at time of publication; **Postdoc at time of publication

1. Gustin, S., Bolding, M., Willoughby, W., Anam, M., Seward, J., Shum, C., Rumble, D., Sturgeon, J.A., Mark, V., Chen, Y., Mitchell, L., Cowan, R., Perera, R., Richardson, E., Richards, S., & Trost, Z. (in press). Cortical mechanisms underlying immersive interactive virtual walking treatment for amelioration of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: Findings from a preliminary investigation of thalamic inhibitory function. Journal of Clinical Medicine.

2. Sturgeon, J. A., Pierce, J., & Trost, Z., (under review). Initial validation of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in a sample of adults with chronic headache.

3. Trost, Z., A., Sturgeon, J.A., Agtarap, S., McMinn, K., McShan, E., Boals, A., Arewasikporn, A., Foreman, M., & Warren, A. (under review). The impact of perceived injustice on pain and psychological outcomes following traumatic injury: A longitudinal analysis.

4. Vorensky M.*, Kissi, A.* (shared first authorship), Sturgeon, S., Vervoort, T., & Trost, Z., (under review). Racial differences in movement evoked pain appraisals and pain behaviors among adults with chronic low back pain.

5. Crouch, T., Sturgeon, J., Guck, A., Higawara, N., Smith, W., & Trost, Z. (in press. Race and belief in a just world: Implications for pain acceptance among individuals with chronic low back pain. Journal of Pain

6. Daenen, F.**, Bert, F., *, McParland, J., Trost, Z., Schillemans, A., Tanghe, A., & Vervoort, T. (2023, in press). Child appraisals of injustice in the context of acute & chronic pain: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. European Journal of Pain.

7. Daenen, F.**, Wauters, A., Trost, Z. Van Ryckehem, D., & Vervoort, T. (2023). Youth baseline and state pain-related injustice appraisals are associated with emotional responses of anger and sadness: An experimental study. Frontiers Pain Research, 21, 1080461.PMID: 37151841

8. Richardson, E., Trost, Z., Payne, M., & Wiggins, A. (2023). The negative effect of social discrimination on pain tolerance and the moderating role of pain catastrophizing. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 30, 169 -81. PMID: 35244822

9. Parker, A.*, Sebrow, L., Foley, F., Hirky, E.L., Robbins, M., Trost., Z., & Seng, E., (2023). Injustice, quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms in people with migraine. Rehabilitation Psychology, 68, 77-90. PMID: 36633992

10. Shubiner, H., Jackson, B., Molina, K.M., Sturgeon, J.A., Sealy-Jefferson, S., Lumley, M.A., Jolly, J., & Trost., Z. (2023, online ahead of print). Racism as a source of pain. Journal of General Internal Medicine.

11. Harvie, D. S., Smith, R., Martin, D., Hirsh, A. T., & Trost, Z. (2022). Editorial: Novel applications of virtual and mixed reality in pain research and treatment." Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 3.

12. Baehr, L.*, Kaimal, G., Hiremath, S., Trost, Z., Finley, M. (2022). Staying active after rehab: Physical activity perspectives with a spinal cord injury beyond functional gains. PLoS One, 17(3):e0265807. PMID: 35320294

13. Baert, F.*, Van Ryckeghem, D., Sanchez-Lopez, A., Miller, M.*, Hirsh, A., Trost, Z., & Vervoort, T. (2022). The impact of maternal child- and self-oriented pain-related injustice appraisals upon maternal attention to child pain, attention to anger, and pain-attending behavior. British Journal of Pain, 16, 303-316. PMID: 35646345

14. Hesam-Sariati, N.***, Chang, W., Wewege, M.A., McAuley, J., Booth, A., Trost, Z., Lin., C., Newton-John, T., and Gustin, S. (2022). The analgesic effect of EEG neurofeedback for people with chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Neurology, 29, 921-36. PMID: 34813662

15. Trost, Z., Anam, M.*, Seward, J.*, Shum, C., Rumble, D.***, Sturgeon, J., Mark, V., Chen, Y., Mitchell, L., Cowan, R., Perera, R., Richardson, E., Richards, S., & Gustin, S. (2022). Immersive interactive virtual walking reduces neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury: Findings
from a preliminary investigation of feasibility and clinical efficacy. PAIN, 163, 350-361. PMID: 34407034

16. Mathur, V.A., Trost, Z., Enzewa, M.O., Sturgeon, J.A., & Hood, A. (2022). Mechanisms of injustice: What we (don’t) know about racialized disparities in pain. PAIN, 16, 999-1005. PMID: 34724680

17. Alnojeidi, A. H.*, Capo-Lugo, C., Sturgeon, J.A., & Trost, Z. (2022). Injustice through a cultural lens: A pilot qualitative exploration of pain related injustice appraisals among Arab- Americans with chronic low back pain. Journal of Pain, 23, 739-753. PMID: 34718152

18. M.M. Miller*, Williams, A., Scott, E., Trost, Z., & Hirsh, A. (2022). Anger as a mechanism for injustice in pediatric pain. Journal of Pain, 23, 223-235. PMID: 34403788

19. M.M. Miller*, Williams, A., Scott, E., Trost, Z., & Hirsh, A. (2021). Battle of the appraisals: Pain-related injustice versus catastrophizing as mediators in the relationship between pain intensity and 3-month outcomes in children with chronic pain. Journal of Pain, 23, 223-235.
PMID: 34403788

20. Kang, D., Hasam-Shariati, N., McAuley, J.H., Monzurul, A., Trost, Z., Rae, C.D. & Gustin, S. (2021). Disruption to normal excitatory and inhibitory function within the medial prefrontal cortex in people with chronic pain. European Journal of Pain, 25, 2242-56. PMID: 34242465.

21. Philippus, A., Sevigny, M., Agtarap, S., MacIntyre, B., Welch, A., Trost, Z., Boals, A., & Monden, K. (Online 2021). Validation of the Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ) in a spinal cord injury population. Spinal Cord, 59, 1177-86. PMID: 34052836.

22. Kidwell, A.L.*, Motl., R.W., Sasaki, J.E., Cederberg, Jeng, B., & Trost, Z. (2021). Perceived injustice in multiple sclerosis: An initial, exploratory study. Rehabilitation Psychology, 55, 335-43. PMID: 34472930

23. Seward, J.C.**, Stavrinos, D., Moore, D., Attridge, N., & Trost, Z. (2021) When driving hurts: Characterizing the experience and impact of driving with back pain. Scandinavian Journal of Pain, 24, 445-56. PMID: 33641275

24. Buelow, M. T., Brunell, A. B., & Trost, Z. (2021). Narcissism and the experience of pain. Personality and Individual Differences, 169.

25. Trost, Z., France, C., Anam, M.*, & Shum, C. (2021). Topical review: Virtual Reality Approaches to Pain: Toward a state of the science. Pain, 162, 325-331. PMID: 32868750