Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994                   TAG: 9411160048
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DON COLBURN THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SOAP OPERAS HAVE MORE SEX BUT SHY AWAY FROM CONSEQUENCES

The survey monitored 10 televised episodes from each of five popular soap operas: ``General Hospital'' (ABC), ``All My Children'' (ABC), ``One Life to Live'' (ABC), ``The Young and the Restless'' (CBS) and ``Days of Our Lives'' (NBC) between Aug. 15 and Sept. 9.

The study was led by Bradley S. Greenberg, professor of communication at Michigan State and an expert on sexual content in the media. It was commissioned by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent health-care philanthropy based in Menlo Park, Calif.

The survey found a total of 333 sexual incidents, an average of 6.6 sexual incidents per hour-long soap opera. The average rate at the three ABC shows was significantly higher than in a previous study of those three shows by Greenberg in 1985.

Kaiser Family Foundation executive vice president Mark D. Smith said the world view of the soap operas was ``at odds with reality,'' adding that ``in real life, people's sexual actions come with consequences and responsibilities.'' He decried the failure of soap operas to address those responsibilities through discussion of birth control, safe sexual practices and sexually transmitted infections, including AIDS.

The 50 hours of programing studied included 156 incidents of sexual intercourse, 71 incidents of rape, 61 references to pregnancy and only five discussions of contraception or safe-sex practices. There was no mention of homosexuality, the survey reported.