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Being good to your parents may be the secret to finding true love. While getting along with mom and dad isn't always easy, new research reveals that having a good relationship with your parents increases your chances of having a healthy, romantic attachment as an adult.

The latest study reveals that people who felt closer to their parents and who reported being more satisfied with how their parents communicated with them had more self-esteem and better intimate relationships as adults.

After looking at over 15 years of data on 2,970 people, researchers at the University of Alberta discovered that a good relationship between parents and adolescents lowered the risk of depression and increased self-esteem and intimacy in romantic relationships.

"People tend to compartmentalize their relationships; they tend not to see the connection between one kind, such as family relations, and another, like couple unions," said Matt Johnson from the University of Alberta, Canada, according to Business Standard.

"But understanding your contribution to the relationship with your parents would be important to recognizing any tendency to replicate behavior - positive or negative - in an intimate relationship," Johnson added.

Researcher said the latest findings don't mean that people should use their parents as scapegoats for their romantic disasters.

"It is important to recognize everyone has a role to play in creating a healthy relationship, and each person needs to take responsibility for their contribution to that dynamic," Johnson said, according to the Daily Mail.

The findings are published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.