BackgroundIn February 2020, the Chinese government imposed a complete lockdown of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province to contain a spike of COVID-19 cases. Although such measures are effective in preventing the spread of the virus, medical professionals strongly voiced a caveat concerning the pandemic emotional burnout at the individual level. Although the lockdown limited individuals’ interpersonal communication with people in their social networks, it is common that individuals turn to social media to seek and share health information, exchange social support, and express pandemic-generated feelings. ObjectiveBased on a holistic and multilevel perspective, this study examines how pandemic-related emotional exhaustion enacts intrapersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal emotional regulation strategies, and then evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies, with a particular interest in understanding the role of hyperpersonal-level regulation or social media–based regulation. MethodsUsing an online panel, this study sampled 538 Chinese internet users from Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Survey data collection lasted for 12 days from February 7-18, 2020, two weeks after Hubei Province was placed under quarantine. The sample had an average age of 35 (SD 10.65, range 18-78) years, and a majority were married (n=369, 68.6%). ResultsUsing structural equation modeling, this study found that intrapersonal-level (B=0.22; β=.24; P