(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Lindsay Lohan faces a lifelong struggle with addiction, according to her mother Dina.

The 24-year-old actress has had a difficult time over the last few months, including being imprisoned about violating her probation for her 2007 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) conviction, and going to rehab.

She left the Betty Ford Center last month and has vowed to turn her life around, but earlier this month she was charged with felony grand theft after a necklace went missing from a store in Venice, California.

Lindsays mother has spoken out in defence of her daughter, insisting she is back on the right path following her rehab stint.

I believe [that Lindsay doesn't drink anymore], and I think it's gonna be a lifelong struggle with addiction. But I think she's gonna be OK, Dina said during an interview airing on ABC News tonight. She's a young girl struggling. You know, she's not perfect... She's learning as she goes, but she's learning under a microscope, so I can't even imagine how that is.

Dina added she has always tried to do her best for her daughter, and realised she had problems long before anyone else. She believes Lindsays issues started when she moved to Los Angeles in 2004, adding she personally arranged for the stars first rehab stay in 2007.

I knew early on, I just didn't tell anyone about it. It was a personal situation, Dina explained.

You know, you have to be ready as an individual. It's not just gonna happen. You have to hit your own bottom.

I never thought it would be this - the media would be so crazy. I really never thought it would get to this level. It's been really hard on my family, harder than anything.

I really think she was at a maturation level that she now understands what she needs to get from it. And she grasps that. (C) Cover Media