1) horizontalLayoutButton будет следить за спейсером и кнопками.
2) verticalLayoutMain будет следить за horizontalLayoutButton и scrollArea
3) а уж главный виджет будет следить за verticalLayoutMain
В ассистанте про все это написано:
void QLayout::addItem ( QLayoutItem * item ) [pure virtual]
Implemented in subclasses to add an item. How it is added is specific to each subclass.
This function is not usually called in application code. To add a widget to a layout, use the addWidget() function; to add a child layout, use the addLayout() function provided by the relevant QLayout subclass.
Note: The ownership of item is transferred to the layout, and it's the layout's responsibility to delete it.
void QLayout::addWidget ( QWidget * w )
Adds widget w to this layout in a manner specific to the layout. This function uses addItem().