Twice as many girls using social media for more than three hours a day

The number of girls using social networking sites for more than three hours on an average school day has doubled in four years, new figures show.

In 2011/12 8.7% of 10-15-year-old girls surveyed used sites such as Facebook for more than three hours a day, jumping to 17.4% in 2015/16.

The number of boys using social media has increased too, but their usage remains far lower than that of their female counterparts, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In 2011/12 4.9% of boys spent more than three hours on social networking sites, which increased to 8.3% in 2015/16.

The data was collected from Understanding Society, the UK household longitudinal study.

The figures were based on a survey of 4,410 children in 2011/12 and 3,616 in 2015/16.

The Children's Well-being and Social Relationships report also found that for the first time boys were more likely than girls to argue with their mother more than once a week.

In 2015/16 25.2% of girls aged 10-15-years-old reported quarrelling with their mother more than once a week, compared with 26.3% of boys.

This is down from 31.0% of girls and 30.1% of boys in 2009/10.

Both genders argued with their father less than their mother on average, but more children reported talking frequently to their mothers about "things that matter" than their fathers.