What factors may assist social workers to promote life satisfaction and personal growth among first‐time grandfathers?

Drawing on positive psychology and the perception of families as systems, the current study examined the contribution of variables regarding first‐time grandfathers and their sons, who have become first‐time fathers, to grandfathers' life satisfaction and personal growth. In addition, the association between the frequency of meetings between grandfather and grandchild to grandfathers' life satisfaction and personal growth was examined. The sample consisted of 106 pairs of first‐time Jewish Israeli grandfathers and their sons (n = 212). The grandfathers completed questionnaires relating to personal variables such as narcissism, family relations and frequency of meetings with the grandchild, and reported on their sense of life satisfaction and personal growth. The fathers completed questionnaires relating to personal variables, narcissism and family relations. Higher levels of grandfathers' life satisfaction were associated with their own perception of good family relations; higher levels of grandfathers' personal growth were related to their narcissism. The grandfather's perception of the frequency of meetings with the grandchild was found to moderate between the father's narcissism and the grandfather's life satisfaction and personal growth. The findings point to the crucial role social workers may play in enhancing life satisfaction and enabling personal growth through dedicated intergenerational interventions.