Our study has shown that Turkish stroke survivors have sexual health needs during the rehabilitation process, though this has not been addressed previously. Sexual health needs seem to be affected by cultural factors and biases.

This study investigates the prevalence of myths regarding virginity and the hymen and their associations with sexuality prior to marriage. This study was conducted with 534 single, heterosexual male and female students from various faculties of Dicle University in Turkey. The findings demonstrated that the rates of masturbation (11.1%) and premarital sexual intercourse (4.3%) were much lower in women than in men (87.7% and 44.2% respectively) who were traditionally expected to maintain their virginity until marriage. A higher degree of commitment to religious faith was associated with a lower rate of masturbation and sexual contact experience. Also, the myth that the hymen symbolized virginity was slightly more prevalent among male students (74.2% vs. 72.1%). Female virginity was significantly more important among male students (76.7%) than females (11.1%), and male students more frequently (30.1% vs. 11.1%) stated that "the blood-stained bed sheet" should be displayed to the family on the day of marriage. Although some myths about virginity were frequently reported by females, less significance was attributed to virginity by females than by males. In conclusion, the traditional social structure that incites sexual double standards still prevails over the sexual attitudes and behaviors of university students in Turkey.

Our objective was to elucidate potential causes of higher rates of suicide attempts in females compared to males in southeastern Turkey through a 1-year survey. Gender-related differences observed in 96 subjects who attempted suicide by poisoning for the first time were as follows: in comparison to male, females were predominantly within the age interval of 15-24 years, experienced more stressful events in the previous week before suicide attempt, had lower education level, and had a lower rate of employment. One year after the suicide attempt, unfavorable attitude of family, lack of support, persisting unfavorable lifestyle comparable with that prior to the first attempt, and higher rates of domestic violence were more pronounced in females compared to males. These findings might be contributing factors to the higher suicide attempt rates observed in females compared to the males.

We plan to investigate the level of marital satisfaction, the prevalence of sexual problems, and related issues in couples who were referred to an outpatient clinic of psychiatry for their sexual problems. All were living according to traditional Islamic culture. Twenty-five (80.64%) of the couples attended the clinic for not being able to have any sexual intercourse. Overall, 25.8% of the women, and 3.2% of the men had been married without their consent; those marriages were arranged and mediated by matchmakers. Vaginismus (58.06%) was the most common diagnosis among women and premature ejaculation (38.70%) among men. We found that marital satisfaction was affected by the mode of marriage.

Predictors for a longer time to remission were psychiatric comorbidities, a higher YMRS score, and a higher number of previous depressive episodes. Predictors for a shorter time to recurrence were episodes of longer duration and mixed type.

We examined premarital sexual behaviors among Turkish university students and the predictor factors for these behaviors. The study included 638 eligible students (256 women and 382 men). Masturbation was reported by 53.3% of the participants, and sexual intercourse experience was reported by 26.3%. Men, heterosexual orientation, and non-religious/liberal religiosity were predictor factors for masturbation and premarital sexual intercourse/foreplay experience. Men having more sexual experiences than women may indicate gender double standards, while heterosexual orientation as a predictor of sexual behaviors could relate to homophobia, still prominent in Turkey. These findings highlight Islam's restrictive attitude towards sexuality despite continued Western influences.

Background: Since traffic accidents are more common in developing countries than in developed countries, we aimed to investigate the association of several factors with the development and persistence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after traffic accidents. Sampling and Methods: In the study,95 participants with injuries from traffic accidents were evaluated at 4 different times: in the beginning, and after 3, 6 and 12 months. Results: During the first evaluation, 41.1% (39) of our participants had acute stress disorder (ASD). It was found that lower perceived social support (OR = 0.0908, 95% CI = 0.834–0.989, p = 0.027) and higher peritraumatic dissociative experience scores (OR = 1.332, 95% CI = 1.170–1.516, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of ASD. In the evaluations after 3, 6 and 12 months after the accident, we found PTSD affected 29.8, 23.1 and 17.9% of the participants, respectively. Although limitations at work and in social life after a traffic accident were not related to PTSD at 3 months (OR = 122.43, 95% CI = 0.000, p = 0.999) or at 6 months (OR = 63.438, 95% CI = 0.529–76.059, p = 0.089), limitations at work and in social life were predictors of PTSD at 12 months (OR = 155.514, 95% CI = 2.321–104.22, p = 0.019). Conclusions: The persistence of PTSD at the 12-month evaluation is related to ASD, limitations in work and social life, and lower social support scores. In developing countries like Turkey, long-term PTSD is commonly seen after traffic accidents.

ÖZET