Discerning Mindfulness or Nonjudging Mindfulness? Investigating the Relative Temporal Association of Discerning and Nonjudging Quality with Nonattachment and Mental Health

Objectives Mindfulness is widely recognized as a multidimensional construct, though some of its components have faced criticism. Nonjudgment, operationalized as approaching inner experiences without evaluation, is one such debated aspect. In contrast, discernment emphasizes the importance of actively assessing the wholesomeness of mental states. This study investigated which of these mindfulness qualities is more closely linked to well-being by examining their longitudinal associations with mental health outcomes, mediated by nonattachment, over an eight-month period with three assessment points. Method Data from 275 participants ( M age = 24.5, SD = 7.50; 51% women), all of whom reported no meditation experience, were included in the analysis. Retention rates were 83% ( n = 227) at the 4-month follow-up and 79% ( n = 217) at the 8-month follow-up. Most participants reported no religious belief (81%) and held an undergraduate degree or higher (96%). Path analysis was conducted with baseline discernment and nonjudgment as independent variables, nonattachment at the 4-month follow-up as the mediator, and life satisfaction or psychological distress at the 8-month follow-up as dependent variables. Results When all variables were measured concurrently, nonattachment significantly mediated the associations of both discernment ( β = -0.32, 95% CI = -0.43, -0.22 for distress; β = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.15, 0.33 for life satisfaction) and nonjudgment ( β = -0.12, 95% CI = -0.19, -0.04 for distress; β = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.15 for life satisfaction) with psychological distress and life satisfaction. However, longitudinally, nonattachment at 4 months only significantly mediated the association between discernment and life satisfaction ( β = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.003, 0.08). No significant temporal associations were found between nonjudgment, nonattachment, and the outcome variables. Conclusions These findings suggest that discernment may have a greater long-term benefit for nonattachment and life satisfaction than nonjudgment. Preregistration This study is not preregistered.