Vision 2030 and child psychology 
Child psychology is the study of the conscious and subconscious development of a child that focuses on the emotions and behaviors of children as they grow older, a significant aspect of a child’s growth. Features of child psychology are observing and understanding the world in which children live. How they use their imaginations, their memory, and how they solve their problems are a byproduct of their environments and genetics.
Vision 2030 aims to improve the quality of life for Saudi Arabia’s citizens. By creating new economic opportunities, the vision will increase citizens’ participation in tourism, cultural development, sports and urban activities, with significant economic and social impacts on the country. Achievement of these objectives will ensure a tolerant and socially inclusive world that has everything to do with children’s successful psychological development.
Child psychology development equally depends on the child’s environment and genetics. By improving citizens’ living conditions, Vision 2030 can ensure that children with disabilities grow in a favorable climate — just like those who do not have disabilities — contributing to their successful psychological development.
In addition to helping citizens to improve their living conditions, Vision 2030 also aims to improve health service delivery in Saudi Arabia, attained by increasing cooperation among health providers to deliver quality and timely healthcare. With this, children with disabilities will feel recognized and cared for, contributing to their positive psychological development.
A study titled “Quality of Life and Socioeconomic Status: A Comparative Study among Mothers of Children with and without Disabilities in Saudi Arabia,” published in 2020, compares the quality of life of mothers caring for children with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy to that of mothers whose children do not have disabilities. The authors argue that disability affects the child’s psychological development and caregivers; mothers of children with disabilities were less satisfied with their current economic status, resulting in a correlation between the services offered and the recipient’s psychological development. According to the article, mothers of children with disabilities attributed less significance to their own spiritual or psychological status. Better health facilities and the introduction of enough rehabilitation centers will help to ease primary caregivers’ burdens and improve their psychological situation, which directly enhances that of their children.
Achieving proper healthcare through Vision 2030 will also help to reduce the high costs of hospitalization and extended hospital stays. In the meantime, the available rehabilitation centers in Saudi Arabia are mainly owned by private organizations who charge high rates for their services. The Vision will help to increase health services, contributing to these children’s physical and psychological development.
Vision 2030 is based on just, equal and nondiscriminative standards. Generally, children suffering from CP and DS are treated differently, a phenomenon found in many communities worldwide.
To fix this, Vision 2030 will help to spread the principles of equality and nondiscrimination by offering the same health and economic opportunities to everyone, pushing society toward accepting all, regardless of age, physical or mental health. Social acceptance is a part of social development, and inclusion by society will directly improve the psychological welfare of these children.
In sum, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to improve the quality of life for all, which will create a favorable environment for its citizens. A good environment will contribute to healthy psychological development for children with disabilities.
In addition, improving parents’ quality of life will assist them to afford programs to help their children achieve independence. All this will, in turn, contribute to the successful accomplishment of cognitive, social and emotional development in children with disabilities. Vision 2030 will also help to relieve the parental burden of bringing up these children. Primary caregivers will have time to look after their psychological health and their children’s. Vision 2030 can also create positive change, including the perception of these children by society, which will play an essential role in their successful psychological development.
• Mona Al-Zahrani is a teaching assistant at the nursing college of King Khalid University in Abha. She is currently a postgraduate student majoring in pediatric nursing at the Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University in Dammam.
