ALMOST half of teenagers feel as if they are addicted to social media, according to analysis.

The early findings from a study being carried out at the University of Cambridge were described as "striking", with researchers saying that some people's relationship with social media could be "akin to a behavioural addiction".

The Cambridge team is analysing data from the Millennium Cohort Study, which is being carried out by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London.

It is following the lives of more than 18,000 babies born in the UK from 2000 and 2001 to map the backgrounds of children born in the early 21st century.

Cambridge researchers found 48 per cent of 7,022 people surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I think I am addicted to social media".

The data was collected between January 2018 and March 2019, when the cohort was 17-years-old.

University of Cambridge graduate student Georgia Turner, who led the analysis, said: "We're not saying the people who say they feel addicted are addicted.

"But it's not a nice feeling to feel you don't have agency over your own behaviour, so it's quite striking that so many people feel like that."