Children who have a strong bond with their parents are more likely to be better friends, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Illinois found that a child who has a good relationship with his parents is likely to be a positive, responsive playmate, and will be able to adapt to a difficult peer by asserting his needs.

"Securely attached children are more responsive to suggestions or requests made by a new peer partner. A child who has experienced a secure attachment relationship with caregivers is likely to come into a new peer relationship with positive expectations," researcher Nancy McElwain said in a statement.

For the study, researchers assessed the security of child-mother attachment relationships for 114 children at 33 months, and parents reported on their child's temperament, including anger proneness and social fearfulness. At 39 months, children of the same gender were randomly paired with one another and observed over three laboratory visits in a one-month period.

Based on their findings, Securely attached kids were more responsive to a new peer partner the first time they met, even if the new child was prone to anger. Children with secure attachments continued to respond favorably on the second and third visits when the peer partner's anger was low -- but not when the other child's anger was high, the researcher said.

Researchers also observed that when a child is paired with a peer who is quick to become frustrated or angry, the positive social expectations of a child with a secure attachment are likely not met. The securely attached child may then adapt to the situation and dampen his responsiveness to the challenging partner.

"A more securely attached child was also likely to use suggestions and requests rather than commands and intrusive behavior (such as grabbing toys away) during play with an anger-prone peer during the first two visits. By the final visit, a child with a secure attachment had adjusted to the controlling assertiveness of her anger-prone partner by becoming more controlling herself," McElwain said.

The research shows that a child's level of attachment security, their partner's tendency to become angry, and how well the children knew each other combined to predict a child's behavior.

The findings were recently published in Developmental Psychology.