Data from a randomized control trial that examined the impact of a cash transfer and psychological intervention on alcohol outcomes and household welfare in India

The present data article provides a dataset of daily alcohol consumption, an additional description of the participants, and measures of psychological hardiness and alcohol dependency related to the research article entitled “Cash Transfer and a Psychological Intervention: Impact on Alcohol Outcomes and Household Welfare in India” (Ejima et al., 2025). This randomized controlled trial examined the effect of a cash transfer and a psychological intervention on alcohol-related outcomes and household welfare. A total of 200 households with at least one frequent alcohol user were recruited and randomly assigned to one of four groups: a voucher intervention group that received a voucher for 30 days, a psychological intervention group that received five sessions of counselling, a joint intervention group that received both, and a control group. Data were collected during the baseline phase in December 2018 for all household members, including detailed demographic, income, and household consumption information. Within these households, 220 individuals were identified as frequent alcohol consumers and became the main study participants. For these participants, data on daily alcohol consumption, blood alcohol content (BAC), and alcohol-related expenditure were collected over a 90-day period. Additionally, psychological hardiness and alcohol dependency, measured using the validated CAGE questionnaire, were assessed at both baseline and endline.