Objective To investigate the psychometric and structural properties of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) among meditators, to develop a short form, and to examine associations of mindfulness with mental health and the mechanisms of mindfulness. there were also substantive differences between the two samples: Effects of Orientation to Experience on anxiety were markedly higher among the Spanish than the German meditators. In turn, the contribution PSI-6130 of Self-regulated Attention on anxiety was negligible among Spanish meditators, but of similar size to that of Orientation to Experience among the German meditators. Overall, the model explained 24% (24%) of the variance of depression scores in German and Spanish meditators, respectively, and 18% (27%) of anxiety scores. The total effect (standardized estimates) of meditation experience on depression and anxiety scores amounted to -.15/-.15 (depression), and -.13/-.14 (anxiety; all ?=?.203, CFI ?=?.999, TLI ?=?.997, RMSEA ?=?.023 [.000,.060], and is depicted in Figure 2. Orientation to Experience was, again, a slightly stronger predictor of all facets of perceived stress save Joy than Self-regulated Attention, corroborating the pattern obtained before with regard to depression and anxiety. Overall, the model explained 36% to 38% of the variance of Worries, Tension, and Joy scores, respectively, and 16% of the Demands score variance. The total effect (standardized estimates) of meditation experience on the former three scores was around.18 each (<.001) on Demands scores. Figure 2 Path model on the effects of meditation experience on mindfulness and on facets of perceived stress in the German data. Mechanisms of mindfulness Two final path models were fitted on the Spanish data (Table S4) to explore (1) mechanisms of mindfulness and (2) to identify those mechanisms that exerted unique beneficial effects on mental health. The first path model incorporated paths from meditation experience to the higher-order factors of mindfulness that, in turn, had paths to all proposed mechanisms. Paths of the higher-order factors to mechanisms were then deleted, where insignificant (?=?.818, CFI ?=? 1.000, TLI ?=? 1.000, RMSEA ?=?.000 [.000,.029], it is depicted in Figure 3. Body Awareness, Acceptance of Emotions, Control & Regulation, Emotional Clarity, and Nonattachment remained in the model. For both depression and anxiety, Acceptance of Emotions, Control & Regulation, and Emotional Clarity were important mechanisms, Acceptance of Emotions most important regarding depression, Emotional Clarity most important regarding anxiety. Otherwise, Nonattachment was a further important and specific mechanism regarding depression, whereas Body Awareness regarding anxiety. Overall, the model explained 59% of the variance of depression scores and 57% of the variance of anxiety scores. The total effect (standardized estimates) of the higher-order PSI-6130 factors (Self-regulated Attention/Orientation to Experience) on depression and anxiety scores amounted to -.33/-.31 (depression) and -.26/-.32 (anxiety; all ?=?.69 and.62 in the German and Spanish samples, than among non-meditators, ?=?.18 to.27 [20]. These results may be interpreted as a direct proof, and suggest a broad applicability, of the two-component model of mindfulness [3], with regard to both the conceptualization and measurement of mindfulness in the domain of self-report. In essence, these results suggest that self-reported mindfulness is, both among meditators and non-meditators, a multi-facetted, but two-factorial construct, whose homogeneity increases with meditation experience. The two-component model is also informative for, MAIL readily compatible with, and applicable to, traditional Buddhist and contemporary meditation practices, and has also received broad neuroscientific support [7]. We thus recommend using such a two-component model as the standard model to describe and explain mindfulness. The observed differences between Spanish and German meditators regarding mean levels in Orientation to Experience could stem from sample differences: First, the Spanish sample comprised relatively more Vipassana and Zen practitioners than the German sample. Vipassana and Zen meditation does not involve much physical motion, whereas yoga, of which the German sample included a high percentage of practitioners, has a focus on bodily movements, using postures, or mechanisms, or PSI-6130 in the case of decentering, more specific mechanisms, that were found to uniquely explain the beneficial effects of mindfulness and meditation on mental health. Consistent.