Grandparents in 3D: Unpacking personal, parental, and grandparental dimensions in the immediate aftermath of an acute trauma

Psychol Trauma. 2026 Jul 16. doi: 10.1037/tra0002235. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine how Israeli grandparents of young grandchildren navigated personal, parental, and grandparental roles during the first month following the October 7, 2023, terror attacks and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Grandparents hold a central yet understudied role in family systems during collective trauma, but little attention has been paid to grandparents’ layered identities and coping strategies.

METHOD: This is a qualitative study with 16 grandmothers and five grandfathers (40-73 years old) based on semistructured in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis yielded three themes with respective subthemes.

RESULTS: Theme 1, from interrupted routine to the search for resilience, captures how participants grounded the trauma in daily memories, moving from shock and loss to coping through action, volunteering, and meaning-making. Theme 2, parenthood reawakened during crisis, illustrates the renewed parental responsibility toward adult children, marked by care, protection, and blurred generational boundaries. Theme 3, the complexity of intergenerational roles in times of crisis, highlights balancing parental and grandparental duties, managing anxiety, and adapting roles under emotional strain.

CONCLUSIONS: Grandparents emerged as active figures whose complex identities strengthened family adaptation during collective trauma, highlighting the need for tailored interventions that recognize their personal, parental, and grandparental roles contributing to coping and meaning-making. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:42461597 | DOI:10.1037/tra0002235