'Party girl' Lohan has sought help for alcoholism, admits her mother

The actress Lindsay Lohan has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, her mother and publicist confirmed yesterday.

Her mother Dina Lohan said the meetings are "positive" for her 20-year-old daughter, whose love of nightlife has ensured almost daily media attention since arriving in London last month. The disclosure follows her decision last week to release a letter she sent to the family of the director Robert Altman following his death from cancer in November.

Lohan's letter drew on her experience of the director after she secured a role in his last film, A Prairie Home Companion, and attracted criticism for being apparently incoherent in parts, as well as containing basic spelling mistakes . After offering up indecipherable philosophies on the meaning of life, she signed off by advising his family to "be adequite".

The admission that she has been attending the meetings follow reports last week that she had been spotted at one. Her mother told the radio station KIIS FM: "A lot of people she hangs out with go, and it's a positive thing. As a parent, you tell them what you can tell them, but she's 20 and I'm not going to say, 'Stay home and don't go out', that's a ridiculous thing to do. When you're 20 you have to learn a lot on your own. I'm there for support, and I'll obviously give her my opinion, but she's fine. She's very smart."

Lohan's publicist, Leslie Sloane, told People magazine: "She's been attending some meetings and it's going to be a slow process. This is a positive."